[Leica] Image criteria - a Luddite view

[jayanand at gmail.com (Jayanand Govindaraj)]

Larry,
I agree with your view.
Cheers
Jayanand

On Mon, Jan 3, 2011 at 9:31 PM, Lawrence Zeitlin <lrzeitlin at gmail.com> 
wrote:
> I notice that technical quality of a picture comes pretty far down on all
> the lists of image criteria discussed so far. If the experts at Kodak are 
> to
> believed, in this paperless society fewer than 10% of all images are ever
> printed up. The bulk are viewed on TV or computer screens, camera LCDs, and
> iPods or iPads. Assuming proper focus and exposure, the limit to technical
> image quality, at least measured in terms of resolution, is set by the
> viewing device. In the case of an HD TV, a 35 mm full frame image need only
> have 45 lines/mm to appear perfectly sharp. Even if the image is viewed on
> the top grade 27" Mac monitor it need only have 60 l/mm to appear sharp.
> These image resolution standards are only slightly greater than those that
> the old Modern Photography magazine rated as minimally acceptable. All the
> cameras I own, no matter how cheap or how old can meet the resolution
> standard required by modern image viewing systems. Every Leica lens ever
> made, except possibly the old Thambar portrait lens, will exceed the 
> minimum
> resolution criteria. By actual test my widely disparaged 75 year old Elmar
> 35 mm f3.5, Leica's first wide angle, resolved 68 l/mm. Even Jim Nichols'
> century old Ross #6 rapid rectilinear lens can more than meet that 
> standard.
> And on a 4/3 frame size too!
>
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/OldNick/Mocking+Bird.jpg.html
>
>
> I agree with most of the image quality criteria proposed, especially those
> which deal with the image's emotional impact, but I wonder why many LUG
> posts seem to obsess over the latest and greatest Leica lenses and the size
> of the latest electronic sensors. While these may be interesting topics in
> themselves, they have almost nothing to do with the pictures posted on the
> LUG and viewed on a computer screen. Follow Dr. Ted and not Irwin Puts.
>
>
> Larry Z
>
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