Leica M9 and wideangles

[Dave Wilkinson]

Should be perfect on the new Zeiss Digital RF ... when we get it! 😛

I dare you to do a Photoshop - 'artist's impression' - to start things rolling! 😀
Dave.

 

[aniMal]

Well, there is one thing that cannot be manipulated - resolution. When approaching 20mpix and beyond, some of the Leica (and surely CV) glass will be worth its price, and some probably not...

Have to see it, and files from it, before really knowing of course!

 

[rxmd]

Well, there is one thing that cannot be manipulated - resolution.

The resolution of a hypothetical 18MP full frame sensor is about the same as that of an 10.3MP 18x27mm sensor, so there would be no difference whatsoever resolution-wise.

 

[Ronald M]

Why can`t you fix vignetting yourself with photoshop for non coded lenses. The tool is called redial gradient and you can make any number of presets you establish from photographs of uniform areas.

 

[splitimageview]

Leica's strengths in glass are pretty much made redundant in digi-land by the use of software. Software makes top end lenses a useless and overpriced endeavor by making the picture perfect in software. Sad ... and hard to accept for many, I'm sure ... but the way of the future.

The laws of physics are, well, laws.

Software can fix distortions and other anomalies, but software is never going to allow an f/2.8 lens to operate at f/2.0, for example. Software won't eliminate the need for top quality glass.

 

[stupid leica]

yeah, i was wondering if i was the only person who noticed that. 🙂

I cannot buy a Sonnar and expect it to do the same thing as a Noct.

 

[ferider]

The M9 PDF brochure that just showed up documents 16bit/color pixel depth in RAW files and camera ISO up to 2500. Wonder where the other bits are "lost" 🙂 .... And microlenses shifted laterally outside of the picture center, to help the process.

It says:

"The current M lenses are supplied with a six-bit code on
the mount that is scanned optically by the M9. On the basis of this coded information, the
M9 can compensate for any negligible, system-inherent vignetting effects."

 

[aniMal]

The special layout of the micro lenses found in the M9 sensor
makes it tolerant of oblique light rays impinging on its surface, thus assuring uniform exposure
and extreme sharpness from corner to corner in every image.

Is it really true? That they have managed to get it all working - without software? The only way to interpret this sentence from the leaked brochure, is that the sensor actually catches all the light from even wides... Or is it a modified truth, leaving out software correction?

 

[ferider]

There must be software/firmware correction, since the micro-lenses can only account for one angle, and the incidence angle is different for every lens, aniMal. They say so in the later text part that I quoted.

 

[aniMal]

Sounds reasonable yes... But how much will the higher refraction index account for?

Vignetting that is within limits, and has no color shift, is really no problem at all... I really look forward to seeing uncorrected files taken with ultrawides!

 

[Symeon]

back to wideangles?

back to wideangles?

It would make my SA 21 work again as a 21 but at what price?🙁

 

[rxmd]

It would make my SA 21 work again as a 21 but at what price?🙁

At the price of even heavier vignetting in the corners, way more than the Super Angulon already produces on film

You can fix the vignetting of course, either in-camera if the camera supports it, or afterwards in Photoshop, but you'll blow out the highlights in the corners in the process.

 

[Erik van Straten]

At the price of even heavier vignetting in the corners, way more than the Super Angulon already produces on film

You can fix the vignetting of course, either in-camera if the camera supports it, or afterwards in Photoshop, but you'll blow out the highlights in the corners in the process.

Sounds pretty awful.

Erik.

 

[samoksner]

All this speculation about the vignetting is ridiculous. Read the brochure, Leica claims to have designed a set of microlens that allow for light rays to be captured by the sensor just fine. Whether or not software correction is running in camera will have to be determined later, at this point it's just speculation. Can't people wait 5 days until it's announced and they release some full res files.

I'm much more interested in ISO performance and to see if they fixed the quirks with the buttons being too easy to push and the self timer being in the way.

btw: in gray, that is a desperately good looking camera!

 

[rxmd]

Microlenses are nothing new, wideangles exhibit vignetting anyway due to design limitations and the discrepancies between optical theory and physical reality.