Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/10/29

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Subject: [Leica] M8 High ISO performanace
From: abridge at gmail.com (Adam Bridge)
Date: Sun Oct 29 21:17:01 2006
References: <200610300119.k9U1HbZ8079282@server1.waverley.reid.org> <DD0632A3-BF67-4E4A-BB9D-BB5D4B48B15F@netvigator.com>

Howard has the right of it!

Adam

On 10/29/06, Howard Cummer <cummer@netvigator.com> wrote:
> Hi Luggers,
> I broke down and spent the $26 to subscribe to Sean Reid's review
> site in order to read for myself his two part review on the M8 (which
> overall he likes very much) and obtained from him permission to quote
> this comment on high ISO performance:
>
> > "At ISO 160 and 320, there's little noticeable difference between
> > the noise levels of the M8 and 5D. At ISO 640, the Leica shows
> > slightly more noise than the Canon but it's a minimal difference.
> > At ISO 1250 the M8 clearly shows more noise than the 5D but it's
> > fairly moderate if one allows C1 to do its default "color noise
> > suppression". At ISO 2500/3200 it's clear that no one would mistake
> > ISO 2500 files from the M8 for ISO 3200 files from the 5D. --- The
> > Canon files at maximum ISO are undeniably cleaner and show little
> > of what we might call "digital grain". *But * if one follows the
> > workflow described above, he or she can create very beautiful,
> > somewhat "grainy" files from the M8 at ISO 2500. They will be
> > grittier than those from the Canon but they're not unusable for
> > many kinds of work. It's interesting to note that the fine detail
> > seem in the M8 sample made at ISO 160 can still be seen at ISO
> > 2500; the latter file is gritty but precise. The Canon file seems
> > to show somewhat less detail at ISO 3200 than at ISO 160. Given
> > that both cameras's files were converted in C1 with the "noise
> > suppression"slider at its lowest setting. I'm puzzled as to why the
> > Canon alone seems to have lost some of the detail one might expect
> > to lose from luminance filtering"
> >
> >
>
> At the end of the review Sean concludes that the M8 is one of a short
> list of very competent digital cameras and that its introduction is a
> commendable accomplishment.
> I enjoyed the other articles on the site which have a major focus on
> rangefinders, especially the RD 1, and lenses for digital
> rangefinders and would recommend it to others who want a
> photographer's review of cameras rather than a gearhead's. And no, I
> have received no consideration from Sean for this endorsement, except
> his courtesy in letting me quote from the review above.
> Cheers
> Howard (in HK)
>
>
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>

In reply to: Message from cummer at netvigator.com (Howard Cummer) ([Leica] M8 High ISO performanace)