[Leica] leica digital back-initial test results

[abridge at gmail.com (Adam Bridge)]

This is a bit disingenuous, I think, because it's clearly aimed at
folks who are already in the R marketplace. It's for folks who already
have invested in Leica glass and want to conserve that investment and
whose shooting style is mirrored by the Leica R design.

I'm now convinced (from living with the 1Ds Mk II) that having lots of
pixels is a damn good idea and that having LOW NOISE pixels is an even
better one. I'd take 10 MP over 16 if there was a stop or two better
noise characteristics.

I'll shoot my long Leica glass withe the 1Ds and continue to love the
results. But the next lens I buy will probably be the 70-200 f2.8L IS
lens. Because it will meet my needs.

I hope Leica produces an absolute KILLER back for the R8 and then
makes the digital M that's even better, first because I want the great
Leica optics and second because the marketplace needs high-quality
competition - something that holds the bar high - like Leica glass has
continued to do.

I'd like to see Leica get with the times and try something
revolutionary like auto-focus or at least focus confirmation but I'm
not holding my breath for THAT. I think it's already too late for them
to enter the market there.

Ah well, back to shooting....

adam

On Apr 9, 2005 4:22 PM, B. D. Colen <bdcolen@earthlink.net> wrote:
> And Doug said it was going to sell for $4K, I believe...The price of the
> back and a body is now more than an EOS1DsMKII FULL FRAME dslr. Hell of
> a bargain. And it will be interesting to see how long there's a company
> around to support it.
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org
> [mailto:lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of
> Doug Herr
> Sent: Saturday, April 09, 2005 6:22 PM
> To: Leica Users Group
> Subject: Re: [Leica] leica digital back-initial test results
> 
> on 4/9/05 3:09 PM, SonC@aol.com at SonC@aol.com wrote:
> 
> >
> >
> > Probably B.D. with his usual adulation of Leica, no matter what.
> >
> >
> > SonC
> >
> 
> Nahhh... B.D. said it was vaporware.
> 
> Doug Herr
> Birdman of Sacramento
> http://www.wildlightphoto.com
> 
> > In a message dated 4/9/2005 5:02:50 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
> > jls@runbox.com writes:
> >
> > Falcon?
> >
> > Jeffery Smith
> > New Orleans,  LA
> > http://www.400tx.com
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From:  lug-bounces+jls=runbox.com@leica-users.org
> > [mailto:lug-bounces+jls=runbox.com@leica-users.org]  On Behalf Of
> > lennie falcon
> > Sent: Saturday, April 09, 2005 12:30  PM
> > To: lug@leica-users.org
> > Subject: [Leica] leica digital back-initial  test results
> >
> > we have been testing the digital r back for the past three  days and
> > thought we would share some preliminary findings. leica usa has
> > loaned us their initial pre-production unit and the findings have been
> 
> > quite favourable. we have thoroughly tested the unit attached to a g5
> > in  the studio and on location. it has performed flawlessly using the
> 
> > imacon software. we have done side by sides with a kodak 760, a valeo
> > 11  and a sinar 54. the unit exceeds the 760 and the 11 in colour and
> > it is on  par with the sinar. the imacon software in combination with
> > the digital r  is probably the easiest high-end digital tethered
> > package we  have experienced to date. we have not used the leica
> > processing  software because of time constraints (the photoshop plug
> > in is rgb, so we  choose the imacon because it has a cmyk engine but
> > we assume it to be  excellent based on the the overall performance
> > characteristics.
> >
> > the  major highlights (we will publish expande test results and images
> 
> > this  coming week on the lug):
> >
> > 1. the colour in raw-file format is  outstanding, better than any
> > digital camera we have tested with the  exceptions of the sinar system
> 
> > and the lumiere. fro practical purposes the  only the sinar is equal.
> >
> > 2. the chip is very, very clean. noise levels  at 100 and 200 are
> > extremely hard to find, if at all. at 400 and 800 the  chip is cleaner
> 
> > than everything we have seen of late.
> >
> > 3. the leica  lenses in combination with the back offer unparallelled
> > image quality in a  30mb file. we are testing with 60mm macro(3-cam),
> > the 28mm pc, the 100mm  macro and the 21-35mm zoom.
> >
> > we will publish our results after first  sharing the information with
> > leica, but from our experiences, thus far, the  neagatives are very,
> > very few. we have three photographers sharing the  unit, so our
> > experiences are quite diverse. our output people are the very  best in
> 
> > the country using state of the art eval. techniques and equipment.
> > stay  tuned.
> >
> > falcon
> >
> >
> > ___________________________________________________________
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Leica Users Group.
> > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> 
> _______________________________________________
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> 
> _______________________________________________
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>