End of the CCD Leica M's

[willie_901]

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DIFFERENT, a CCD renders DIFFERENT than a CMOS sensor. Not better, not worse, DIFFERENT. And some folks, myself included, like the way a CCD sensor renders certain images. And for us, it is sad that acquiring a 35mm equivalent CCD sensor camera has just become more difficult because one of the very few manufacturers who still made them, has stopped.
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Respectfully, it is the sensor assemblies (which include the micro-lenes, Bayer color-filter array, IR filter and coverglass) the data streams (including the analog-todigital converters' characteristics) that render differently. I would never dispute some people prefer the M9 rendering and could even tell the difference in a double-blind test.

At the same time both CCD and CMOS use pin-diode solid-state electronics to convert light energy to electrical charge. Then the electrical charge is converted to an analog DC voltage. Electrical charge exists in a single form. Electrical charge is identical in both CCD and CMOS the pin-diode section of the sensor assembly. A CCD camera and a CMOS camera can not generate different types of electrical charge. The same goes for the final form of the sensor assemblies' signal - DC voltage.

To minimize confusion, in my post above I did not mention the effects of noise on rendering aesthetics. The noise characteristics for a M9 are almost certainly very different than other cameras simply because Leica's data stream design is unique. In fact, it is possible a statistical analysis of noise from CCD based data streams and CMOS data streams would show the noise characteristics play a significant role in the subjective aesthetics of raw rendering.