Leica M? with foveon sensor is my dream, is your?

Well,
Foveon and Leica glass is a great combination (SD14 and VE 4/35-70):

sdim0562_1_900.jpg


Cheers,
Uwe
 
I thought the whole 'Foveon/3D' thing was bunk. Until i bought a DP2. I didn't have the camera for more than two weeks, though, as the AF was just too slow for my purposes. But, it only took a few quick 'test' shots to see that 'something' is going on there. I still don't know how. But, whatever.
 
The extra something is that the Foveon does not require an AA filter, and does not suffer from aliasing.

But my dream camera is a Leica with a Monochrome Sensor. Like my first DSLR. Does not require an AA filter, either.
 
Not really my cup of tea, thank you:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1027&message=34611689


And the short RF register will produce huge problems in the corners with this type of sensor. CCD is difficult enough, let alone a three-layered sensor...:rolleyes:

And there is the resolution issue. That marketing bs about tripling the resolution is only about the dropping of the Bayer filtering, that means about the color channels. Where it counts, in the luminance channel, those are low resolution sensors that cannot do justice to lenses like Leica, or indeed Zeiss or CV RF lenses. Which explains why there is no aliasing problem.....
Having said that, the results are very nice on the Web and prints up to A4, as the colors are really very film-like.
 
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No thanks...

I've got the DP2.
At times more frequent than not, there is a green color cast in the pictures. Its can be uneven tinge that appears in different parts of the photo. On the other hand sometimes its just lightly green all over which is easier to deal with providing its not too intense. Particularly noticeable, but not limited to lighter colored surfaces.

Its really a pain to remove and with my limited pp skills, in some cases for me impossible. So expect some pp.

Yes the fovean has a great look when there's no tinge, and sometimes I'd even say breathtaking, but something a little more consistency in the color rendition would be appreciated.

FWIW, the sensor doesn't handle low light very well either, considerably worse than the M8.
 
Nigel Meaby said:
Uwe How are you mounting the Leica lenses on the Sigma? Is there an adapter widely available?
Click to expand...

Nigel,
There are two options available:
The Leitax lens bayonet which you swap for the original Leica R bayonet, and
the sigmacumlaude SD14 camera bayonet which replaces the original Sigma SA camera bayonet.

With the Leitax bayonet, you will not be able to use the converted lenses with Leica R cameras, with the sigmacumlaude bayonet, you will not be able to use Sigma SA lenses with the converted camera.

I tried both, but as I am still using a Leica R with film, I finally decided for the sigmacumlaude bayonet.
My SD14 is fitted with a Chinese split screen and Pentax's O-ME 53 magnifying eyecup which fits the SD14 nicely.

Hope that helped. :)

Edit:
Here's 2 more with the VE 4/35-70:
sdim0584_m.jpg


sdim1035_rff.jpg



Cheers,
Uwe
 
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pkreyenhop said:
I wonder why - what would be the advantage over a M8 or M9?
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The foveon sensor is different than the average bayer sensor in that it uses 3 layers for red, blue and green channels. Without getting too technical about it, this means very different colors (you could say almost film like) and in my experience so far, incredible latitude in highlights. It also means that demosaicing is not needed with foveon sensors, so no aliasing (color moire), therefore no need for aa filters (which results in razor sharp images).

That said, you could get someone to explain to you all the pros of a foveon sensor and still hate it. It's something that you have to experience yourself and decide whether you like it or not :) I do think it's unfortunate though that sigma is the only company willing to go with it. They lack the r&d budget bigger companies like nikon, sony and canon have to really push the foveon tech further.
 
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Uwe_Nds said:
Nigel,
There are two options available:
The Leitax lens bayonet which you swap for the original Leica R bayonet, and
the sigmacumlaude SD14 camera bayonet which replaces the original Sigma SA camera bayonet.

With the Leitax bayonet, you will not be able to use the converted lenses with Leica R cameras, with the sigmacumlaude bayonet, you will not be able to use Sigma SA lenses with the converted camera.

I tried both, but as I am still using a Leica R with film, I finally decided for the sigmacumlaude bayonet.
My SD14 is fitted with a Chinese split screen and Pentax's O-ME 53 magnifying eyecup which fits the SD14 nicely.

Hope that helped. :)

Edit:
Here's 2 more with the VE 4/35-70:
sdim0584_m.jpg


sdim1035_rff.jpg



Cheers,
Uwe
Click to expand...
Nice images, but even in web jpgs they are nowhere near the clarity an M8/9 or DMR produces.
 
jaapv said:
Nice images, but even in web jpgs they are nowhere near the clarity an M8/9 or DMR produces.
Click to expand...

Well, I have the M8 and used to have a DP1, and I have to say, at ISO 100, the foveon RAW files are just unreal. I've never seen anything so sharp and detailed, and the colors are incredible.

That said, the M8 RAW is almost as sharp, but is much more versatile. Foveon starts to look like garbage (in color) at ISO 400...it gets highly desaturated and is really awful at 800. Whereas the M8, while no low light champ, is pretty good all the way to 1250.

Foveon really is a kind of digital Kodachrome, both in the beauty of the colors and its severe limitations in how you can use it. I wouldn't mind a Pentax-converted Sd14 someday, especially now that K64 is gone.
 
Yes- but in these are lacking in contrast, both micro and macro. Maybe they are not typical.
 
jaapv said:
Nice images, but even in web jpgs they are nowhere near the clarity an M8/9 or DMR produces.
Click to expand...

I can't say anything about the DMR, but compared to the M8 with the Elmar 28 Asph, the SD14 does quite well, IMHO:


l1001791_m.jpg


Cheers,
Uwe
 
Agreed with mabelsound, at iso 50/100 my dp1 produces color files capable of giving my M8 (and even D700) a run for it's money. The BW files at iso 800-3200 (pushed) aren't bad either, certainly better than the M8 at 1250, what with all that nasty banding.
 
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