Leica M Typ 240 (CMOS) Sample Pics

[Doug]

On this blog, some JPEGs from an M beta tester... How much info can be derived from these?

http://seekinglight.net/1442/the-new-leica-m-type-240/

[icebear]

Only that he and supposedly his wife shop at BJ's... not really anything about the image quality of the "M240" .

[Michalm]

Originally Posted by Doug

On this blog, some JPEGs from an M beta tester... How much info can be derived from these?

http://seekinglight.net/1442/the-new-leica-m-type-240/

That the sensor definitely needs cleaned up
other than this may well be samples from sony a99 i thought to myself.

[raphaelaaron]

it was meh when i first saw it. to be honest, the CMOS so far from the other images i've seen isn't blowing my skirt up. i hope that can change though.

[mmbma]

I have to say i'm not so impressed by the initial samples of this CMOS sensor. Looks like it came from a Canon! flat, unintersting colors and 18% of grey. To my eye it lacks the signature leica color rendering seen on the film and m9. Especially how the color is unsaturated and lacks that special leica tint. I'd probably buy a M9 on the cheap when the new M comes out. I mean who really needs live view on a range finder?

[kbg32]

Only thing I can tell is bad sensor dust on the first 3 images. The images are too pedestrian to make any evaluations, except that he has money.

[digitalintrigue]

Nothing special but it's way too early. Wait til production units are out.

[f16sunshine]

is it April 1st already ?

[fotomeow]

hard to promote a $7K camera with blase shots

[malland]

Guys, Leica is not promoting the new M with these shots, and a lot of people want to have live view on the an M-rangefinder camera for at least two reasons: to be able to focus longer lenses (using focus-peaking), including R-lenses, and to able able to shoot close-up fluid-style street photography (at 1.0–1.5m — think GRD) by framing loosely with the LCD.

Also, all this skepticism about whether a CMOS sensor can equal a CCD is misplaced: just look at the Ricoh M-Module, which has better color accuracy than the M8 or the M9 and no problem with resolution.

—Mitch/Bangkok
Gods for Sale

[dcsang]

Glad to see the stereotype being perpetuated...

My friend Dr. Ulrich Rohde has had access to the new M240 for many months now

Leica knows their demographic... it isn't photographers.

Cheers,
Dave

[digitalintrigue]

Originally Posted by malland

Leica is not promoting promoting the new M with these shots

that's wise

[Doug]

Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhode_and_Schwarz in which Dr Rhode is a principal. And a Yahoo search gets this bio:

Ulrich L. Rohde studied electrical engineering and radio communications at the universities of Munich and Darmstadt, Germany. He holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering (1978) and a Sc.D. (hon., 1979) in radio communications, a Dr.-Ing (2004), and several honorary doctorates.

He is President of Communications Consulting Corporation; Chairman of Synergy Microwave Corp., Paterson, New Jersey; and a partner of Rohde & Schwarz, Munich, Germany. Previously, he was the President of Compact Software, Inc., Paterson, New Jersey; and Business Area Director for Radio Systems of RCA, Government Systems Division, Camden, New Jersey. He is a Professor of microwave circuit design and has held Visiting Professorships at several universities in the United States and Europe.

So, correct, not a photographer, but likely able to provide useful feedback on the new Leica.

[jsrockit]

Why do people expect magic from this camera? The photographer makes magic happen... not the sensor.

[little jack]

some serious crud on the sensor is about all I can tell from the images. i do wish leica would have auto sensor cleaning... now that's something real photographers want! Perhaps Mr Ulrich can tinker up a solution with all his expertise and resources...

[ChrisN]

"Dr. Rohde is very excited about the M240. He tells me that the color rendering, sharpness and clarity of the new Leica surpass those of the M8 and M9. He also tells me that the exposure meter is more accurate. So far the prototypes have been jpeg output only. "

You can't tell much from OOC jpegs, apart from some of the decisions Leica made about the in-camera processing.

Speculation and making pronouncements is fun, but really, we all know that at worst the camera will be able to produce good if not excellent image quality, and that it will take serious users a few weeks or months to determine how to get the best out of the new camera and sensor. Ho hum.

[PatrickONeill]

we dont learn anything from these images except that the camera is better than a potato when it comes to taking pictures.

firmware isn't ready, no Raws, no full res.

Interesting! of course. I'm not too invested in the CCD vs CMOS debate. But I do want to know how good the camera does at high ISO. I might be able to afford one ten years out from now, so I'm in no hurry.

[semi-ambivalent]

Originally Posted by dcsang

Glad to see the stereotype being perpetuated...


Leica knows their demographic... it isn't photographers.

Cheers,
Dave

Exactly.

But the gentleman is an Engineer so I'm guessing he has a full test bench in his San Diego condo but because of the NDA he can't show us any really useful images but he took the box shopping for a Christmas tree and showed it to some of his wealthy friends and they were all really excited and want to buy one because it takes better pictures.

In this day and age the acceleration of digital release cycles is deadly to a company with a long(er) release cycle, like Leica's. It's bad business to announce a camera (your flagship, no less) that is not only not available but isn't even ready for use. In the meantime you try to placate the hoped-for pent-up demand by posting ridiculous 640x480 images of big box shopping centers and views of the pool and drop the good doctor's name to add umph to the "review".

I don't have a dog in this fight; at some point, because it *is* a digital camera, it will become cheap enough that almost anyone can afford it. Until then I'll stick with my M3 and keep piling up cash for an a la carte MP. When the time is right I'll move partially to digital and get a very used M 240, or something.

This Leica will be superb, wait and see. But they announced it too soon. Until they get the image processing sorted out I wish they'd ramp back the dog and pony shows and go easier with the word 'review'. But that's not the corner they've painted themselves into, is it.


s-a

[krötenblender]

Originally Posted by dcsang

Leica knows their demographic... it isn't photographers.

Glad to see the stereotype being perpetuated...

Oops, that was a quote, too...

Back to the topic: Like others here, I don't see, how these images tell anything about the quality of the final production cameras. I'm pretty sure, it will surpass the image quality of the M9 in all aspects relevant for me. But currently there is no way to tell anything substantial about the quality of the sensor.

In the current issue of LFI-magazine (Leica Fotografie International - don't know, what the name of the english version is), there is a really interesting article about the design of the sensor. Assumed, the facts in the article are correct, I have a good feeling for the sensor.

Also, one should not forget, that photography for some people is not to 100% only about the resulting image - if that is the case, one should probably look for other cameras - but also the way of doing things. Regarding to that, the new M feels pretty good, if one is able to say that from playing around with a prototype body at Photokina for some time.

I guess, before the real launch of the camera, there will be many useless posts of prototype JPeg without meaning whatsoever, except for boosting the hit-rate of the website, where the images appear.