RE: [Leica] Re: Digital M

["B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>]

Just a couple brief things -
I don't think anyone is happy with 1.5 - or 1.3 for that matter - Mark,
they're just stuck with it. ;-) I want to use my lenses at the focal
length they were designed as, not at some compromise focal length.

Also, why is 30.5mm a "good place to be?" It is if you want a 30? It
isn't if you want to shoot with a 21, or a 28, or a 35 - it's a weird
place to be. One of the big problems with the idea of a Leica M that's
less than full frame is precisely the fact that there won't be any
lenses wider than 30.5 - unless one goes to the Cosina superwides, which
are terrific for what they are, but are hardly Leica 21 2.8 ASPHs, or
Summicron 28 ASPHs.....

A digital M could probably make it with a multipication factor, but it
would hardly be ideal.

B. D.

- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
[mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us] On Behalf Of Mark
Rabiner
Sent: Monday, February 09, 2004 11:07 PM
To: leica-users
Subject: Re: [Leica] Re: Digital M


On 2/8/04 12:04 PM, "LRZeitlin@aol.com" <LRZeitlin@aol.com> wrote:

> 
> The fact that the story stated that the sensor would use microlenses 
> to correct the angle of the light rays hitting the extreme edges of 
> the array indicates that they are trying to obtain a full frame 
> result. On the Kodak sensor used in the digital R individual pixel 
> elements are located at the bottom of shallow wells. The grazing angle

> of light at the edges was the primary reason given
> for the "impossibility" of developing a digital M.
> 
> Larry Z
> --
I think the microlenses might help them go 1.3, not full frame. The
thing world look like a sea fish on the bottom of the ocean full frame.
The R system back will take us to 1.3 and that to me is above and beyond
the call of duty. 
1.5 has become a standard that people kind of like and are kind of
settled in on.. If they went 1.5 I'd be ok with it and I'm sure so would
they people with money who've not traded in their M systems for DSLR's
yet.

At 1.5 magnification with my 21 ASPH gives me a 31.5mm focal length in
effect lens. That's halfway between a 28 and a 35. A pretty happy place
to be. I wonder how a compact non retrofocal Schneider super Angulon 3.5
would work with these peripheral advanced sensors? A lot of Cosina 15's
will be sold and 12's even. But the need for an 18 will come up. Giving
you a 27 with a 1.5 mag. Or 23.4mm if they do go 1.3.

Gee if this new microlens technology DOES make it possible to go full
frame on an M why not sneak it into the R back last minute. The already
claimed 10 mg file size is plenty ample and roomy and will end up not
even being used by many. It is already a close match up against the full
frame Canon Eos1ds which is 11.1.  1.1 megs is negligible. 10 against
11.1 is a match. It would be the quality of the pixels that would make
the difference. Glass and a myriad of other factors.

But if the R back can all of a sudden go full frame They could perhaps
jump up the max file size to leapfrog the full frame Canon by quite a
bit. But I think once you go over ten though you might as well think of
it as medium format photography done with 35mm style DSLR's. People sell
their Hasselblad systems for 1.5 mag DSLR systems.


Leica could very soon fool a lot of people and become quite competitive
quite fast. People will invest in their glass. Forsaking the totally
foreseeable autofocus, a minor feature when one considers everything
else which is going on in digital hardware, software and photography.

As people zoom into their images on their monitor it may be that they
may become much more appreatitive of their glass. Appreciating glass as
a key factor in what they are studying and working with at 1600 X
magnification. Because it is.


Mark Rabiner
Photography
Portland, Oregon http://rabinergroup.com/Catagorypages/PersonalWork.html




- --
To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html

- --
To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html