O
oskar_b
I’ve been reading the discussion on digital Ms with some interest.
The idea of a digital M camera is an appealing concept, but a digi M would in practice have none of the charm of useability of the M Leicas (IMHO). What would happen to the film rewind crank we all love so much? And why put a perfectly good CCD sensor in camera design that boasts all the features of 1940s technology. Do we use collodion wet-plates in our M Leicas?
Leica is correct their lenses are optimised for film. Without “dulling down†filtration they are almost useless for digital. For digital you also need telecentric lenses or small sensor size so that the light rays hit the CCD at the optimum angle. Not all M lenses are retrofocus (as is the case with SLRs) so the light hits the film plane at an angle. The circle of confusion size for the lens also needs to match the portion of the CCD array used to record full colour data. The future of digital image capture is with fiberoptics and not lens technology any way.
This stuff is highly technical and a reasonable debate is probably beyond the scope of a generalist forum such as this. Part of the problem is that there is so much rubbish published in popular magazines and web sites, which has only served to confuse the issues. That’s why Canon users babble on so much about “chromatic aberration†with the 1Ds and why Adobe have a fix for it the their new version of Photoshop! Can you imagine this forum discussing the problems of CA in Leica M lenses as recorded on a digital censor that resolves didly-squat. In that case I’d rather not see a digital M.
Apologies for the rant. However, Leica folk are passionate folk. That’s why our camera bags are full and our wallets empty.
Yes the Leica M is a sunning beautiful camera to use and look at, but Carbon prints along with many other contact printing methods were also very beautiful. It was 35mm camera and enlarging of negatives that helped to kill off these wonderful and charming photographic processes. Technology marches on and time will force the older generation into extinction, just has happened right throughout the history of photography. Until I’m made extinct, I will still be using my beloved Ms, preferably with film.
Best regards to all Craig Hoehne (it’s nice to be back)
The idea of a digital M camera is an appealing concept, but a digi M would in practice have none of the charm of useability of the M Leicas (IMHO). What would happen to the film rewind crank we all love so much? And why put a perfectly good CCD sensor in camera design that boasts all the features of 1940s technology. Do we use collodion wet-plates in our M Leicas?
Leica is correct their lenses are optimised for film. Without “dulling down†filtration they are almost useless for digital. For digital you also need telecentric lenses or small sensor size so that the light rays hit the CCD at the optimum angle. Not all M lenses are retrofocus (as is the case with SLRs) so the light hits the film plane at an angle. The circle of confusion size for the lens also needs to match the portion of the CCD array used to record full colour data. The future of digital image capture is with fiberoptics and not lens technology any way.
This stuff is highly technical and a reasonable debate is probably beyond the scope of a generalist forum such as this. Part of the problem is that there is so much rubbish published in popular magazines and web sites, which has only served to confuse the issues. That’s why Canon users babble on so much about “chromatic aberration†with the 1Ds and why Adobe have a fix for it the their new version of Photoshop! Can you imagine this forum discussing the problems of CA in Leica M lenses as recorded on a digital censor that resolves didly-squat. In that case I’d rather not see a digital M.
Apologies for the rant. However, Leica folk are passionate folk. That’s why our camera bags are full and our wallets empty.
Yes the Leica M is a sunning beautiful camera to use and look at, but Carbon prints along with many other contact printing methods were also very beautiful. It was 35mm camera and enlarging of negatives that helped to kill off these wonderful and charming photographic processes. Technology marches on and time will force the older generation into extinction, just has happened right throughout the history of photography. Until I’m made extinct, I will still be using my beloved Ms, preferably with film.
Best regards to all Craig Hoehne (it’s nice to be back)
