Leica M9 – A Marriage with Canon?

I see no reason at all why Leica would even consider another sensor manufacturer other than Kodak. Sure the Canon sensors are good mass market sensor - but Kodak has shown considerable expertise and has been at the forefront of new sensor technology for some time.
 
I kind of get a kick out of the sentimentality of Kodak in my Leica.

I'd rather Kodak just stepped up their game and created a better sensor. I'm not even asking for more megapixels, keep it at 10MP. Or even full frame, I can deal with a 1.3x crop. But for heavens sake. Clean up the high ISO performance.

If Leica keeps Kodak around for the sensor. That's profit in Kodak's bank. A Kodak sensor in my M9 means there will be TMAX in my M7.

I think a lot of people are forgetting Kodak was the first company ever to produce and market a full frame sensor and camera. They have the resources and know how to do this. They just need more encouragement.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0209/02092304kodakdcs14n.asp
 
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Use this one and skip the mechanical shutter.

http://www.kodak.com/global/plugins...summary/Interline/KAI-16000ProductSummary.pdf

Now THAT would be the quietest Leica ever made.

My first DSLR is a Kodak DCS200ir. After 17 years, it has three Hot Pixels out of One Point Six MILLION pixels.

And Oh yes, Color and Monochrome with Microlens.

4H0850
KAI-16000-AXA-JD-B1
Monochrome, Special Microlens, PGA Package,
Clear Cover Glass with AR coating (both sides), Grade 1

4H0853
KAI-16000-CXA-JD-B1
Color (Bayer RGB), Special Microlens, PGA Package,
Clear Cover Glass with AR coating (both sides), Grade 1
 
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I've said this before - Leica users should be so lucky to use the canon sensors if it was to happen - they're the best 35mm format sensors out there IMO.

I don't think they'll use them though. Jaapv said before they're using a smaller version of the S2 sensor which would make more sense and would probably be pretty good. Strange though, because the S2 is limited to 1250 ISO and would have larger individual pixels than the m9 @ 20mp... wonder how good the high ISO will be?
 
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Seriously?

Seriously?

Silva Lining said:
I see no reason at all why Leica would even consider another sensor manufacturer other than Kodak. Sure the Canon sensors are good mass market sensor - but Kodak has shown considerable expertise and has been at the forefront of new sensor technology for some time.
Click to expand...

The "Mass market sensors" you are talking about have been proven in the professional industry, where Kodak's have been hit and miss and inconsistent throughout their entire product line.

Canon have proven their sensor development is top notch, and it's what I use day in and out. Now as much as the Kodak sensor in my M8 has it's strengths, I would be happy to put my Canon 1D III sensor in it today. It has excellent colour, shapness with good lenses and no IR issues.

Remember, 'mass market' doesn't necessearily mean 'inferior'. There are many I'm sure that own Leica M8's because they don't want to go mass market. They want something unique and what is to be 'perceived' as 'above mass market' but really they're actually better off with a mass market product.

For someone like me, my personal style of photography is best constructed with a rangefinder. Whereas my professional style of photography is best constructed with an SLR.

- Mass market or not, I choose my products by 'their stengths', 'my weakness' and 'my goals'.
 
Stefan Daniel, manager of the M division of Leica has stated repeatedly that no other partner than Kodak is considered. In the unlikely case that anything should happen to the Kodak relationship then Dalsa might be an option. Not only would the Canon never produce sensors for a non-Japanese firm, it would have a severe negative effect on camera sales if Leica were to switch sensor manufacturer. Many Leica users do not like the look of Canon sensors. I for one would never buy a Leica M that uses a Canon sensor. Btw, the Canon 1DsIII sensor would have severe issues in a rangfinder setting. It would vignette heavily on anything but the longest lenses, due to the construction of CMos sensors in general and the IR filter would degrade image quality severely. It is a sensor designed for the longer register of DSLR cameras and unusable in a Leica M.
The whole rumour, as Olsen states so succinctly, is absolute BS and rubbish.
 
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I bought the M8 on the "look" of the Kodak sensor images.

Before the M8 I used a Fuji S2 Pro (until the shutter simply disintegrated through overuse, or I would still be using it).

Both these cameras have sensors with film company credentials and, to my eye at least, it shows. Technically, I really don't know how these taking characteristics are produced and could care less.

But I want a camera sensor with a film pedigree, please.
 
There are two things that make me use my M8 all the time, letting my Nikon DSLRs gather dust:

1. It i is a genuine M-body, wonderful to really work with.

2. The sensor/hardware provides colours that are the best I have seen from any of the digital cameras I have yet used. It really convinced me from the start, it just looks so much more right than cameras like a D300.

I remember getting into Leica M optics in the mid nineties, I had the same feel from what it did with slides. There is just much more of the difficult colours present, pastel and such. I do think colour rendition is one of the most underrated areas with Leica in general, and I think they have been very consistent in their approach. I really think that this is part of the setup in the M8, and that it ties well in with Kodak sensors in general.

If only for these reasons, I think that the M9 will have a kodak sensor. Or an equivalent.
 
No doubt the most likely sensor for the M9 will be based on the Kodak design for the S2. However the officially released specs on the S2 say the highest ISO will be 1,250 which is presumably acceptable for that fashion shooter target market, but I think the people likely to buy the M9 would expect high ISO performance at least close to that of the current state of the art DSLRs. So I find myself wondering how Leica & Kodak can achieve decent high ISO quality from the same sensor.
 
I'm pretty sure ISO 1250 will be fine for a digital RF.

I never got the fuss about the ISO sensitivity on the M8. When I shoot 200ASA film, I rate it at 160, 400ASA rated at 320, etc. ISO 1250 is the typical rating for 1600ASA film.

The 160 ISO setting on an M8 gets you shots that look like 200ASA film exposed at 160.

Like with film, 1/3 stop over-exposure is a good thing with RAW. Easier to correct over-exposure and that way have saturated pixels toned down than to under-expose and brighten up those pixels with rainbow colors, adding noise in the process.

Those asking for faster ISO speeds generally do not know their (film) basics, IMHO.

Leica themselves have never proclaimed it, but I feel their opinion on shooting with fast shutter speeds in the dark amounts to: If its that dark, you can hide a DSLR in that darkness.

In general, my M8 behaves quite like a film Leica M to me, once I got to understand its philosophy. Save for the bloody filters, which piss me off every time I need them.
 
And my Tom cat will breed with a great dane.

There's nothing in a sensor marriage for Leica or Canon but now making the R APO's fully compatible with the EOS system, YES!
 
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canon can earn alot of money by making a EOS 1Ds-Mkiii-R :D R-Mount, shorter mirror to support 15,19, 28-90, 35-70, .... but i would prefer D3x-R ;)
 
I do`nt mind Kodak sensor at all. Yes it is very far from perfect like Japanese one. So as M8 very imperfect camera. I found Japanese camera boring because they are too perfect!

But Leica, I believe with some North European country when they have developed DMR. I believe they make sensor!

I do`nt want canon eos look in my Leica m camera! Then I should buy canon! Not Leica!:angel:
 
Leica has a rather importnat partnership with kodak for sensors and they've said in the past that they would stick with kodak (maybe they've changed their minds). Leica also works with panasonic which would make an alliance with them more likely (although they would still need to get the sensors somewhere). I have doubts that sony would provide them with the same sensor present in the D3 / D700. I'm sure Nikon has a contract to keep that sensor exclusive to them, plus, Zeiss works with Sony and i don't doubt they would push their connection (although I'm sure Zeiss lens sales would greatly benefit from a new Digital Full Frame RF)
 
Stranger than Fiction

Stranger than Fiction

I never would have believed a Leica M9 with a Canon chip, but a reliable source told me just that. Still hard to believe, but maybe.

However my sources still have no info on that hot rumor about the M9 actually being based upon a combo Canon 30x40 printer, fax machine, and high speed color copier.

Stephen
 
Sam N said:
Seems extremely unlikely, but it would be great.

Of course Leica would probably charge $5000+ for it, when the sensor comes from a $2700 camera. Sure the RF mechanism ain't cheap, but neither are the mirror and AF systems on the 5D2.
Click to expand...

The whole RF mechanism, new and in the original box is regularly available in eBay for $475. The cost of manufacturing was probably about 1/4.

Leica charges what Leica charges...when it has to be right [Leica] and all that.:rolleyes:
 
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