M: Worlds First Universal Digital Camera!

[bwcolor]

Most likely, this will be a stellar camera. We will see if supply will be a problem. Of course, supply problems always keep Leica demand high. I would think that one, or all of these companies will produce FF competition: Sony, Fujifilm and maybe Ricoh. Ricoh seems to be sitting out this Photokina... maybe still merger delays in product. Probably zero rangefinders in the bunch. I wonder if a medium format rangefinder will ever make the move to digital? A Fujifilm, or Mamiya RF645 (stealing from Bronica) would be sweet.

 

[BobYIL]

It is clear CMOSIS is now under great pressure to deliver the goods. Right now CMOSIS has less than 45 employees. Their facility is only has 1000 sq meters of floor space and their clean room has only 100 square meters. Not only does the new sensor have to be close to state-of-the-art, but CMOSIS has to produce them in sufficient quantities while keeping the reject rate down.

No doubt CMOSIS can produce a sensor right now that meets Leica's standards (otherwise Leice is taking a tremendous, needless risk). The real issue is can CMOSIS deliver M sensors quickly and efficiently.

Probably not to cause much problems.. Leica's production was about 80 units a day during the peak season of the M9 sales. Assuming a similar quota to be maintained, 80 sensors a day (with feasible yield of course) should not create much stress.

 

[sevo]

I wonder if medium format rangefinder will ever make the move to digital?

If so, only as a meaningless luxury good or as a pro studio device with no applicability or attraction for amateurs/consumers. At the 40+MP now standard in that size, hand-holding shake would lose any advantage of the camera over a 24MP FF even at 1/1000s - a truly useful one would be a exclusively tripod/studio stand mount camera. And for these, rangefinders probably are no marketable solution any more.

 

[Ben Z]

The M is a marvel of neat features, I'll grant you. None of which happen to appeal to me, but no one's being forced to buy the add-on gimmicks, and the built-in features seem quite unobtrusive, or at least hopefully they are, and who doesn't want to use them can just forget they're there. Given it costs the same as an M9 did, it's not like Leica is forcing us to pay for all that froufrou. Hopefully it's not easy to accidentally press the Video button (as is resides right next to the shutter release) or activate Live View.

I can't state for certain I'll never buy one. I'd need to actually use one before I made that decision. I'm a little surprised that in all the banter about gimmickery like live view and EVF's, the question of IQ hasn't even come up in threads. No one seems to be wondering why the megapixels are so far below the bar set by the D800. People don't seem to be discussing why the high ISO limit is only 6400. I'm sure that will come later, when we actually know how the camera performs.

But one thing I can say for sure, and I say this as someone with a boatload of manual-focus lenses of Pentax, Nikon and others, is that being able to use them, awkwardly, with no auto-aperture, and the same EVF used on sub-$1000 Olympus consumer mirrorless cams, would not be high on my list of reasons for buying a $6800 rangefinder camera.

For me to buy it, the M would need to seriously outperform the M9 in IQ. Even then, it's arguable whether such an improvement would actually translate to better photography in practical use in my hands.

So if that's being negative, I'm sorry to suck the red out of anyone's apple.

 

[rxmd]

Does there already exist a Canon FD to Leica M adapter?

There probably are more Canon FD lenses sitting around awaiting a digital solution than Leica R lenses. The Canon FD "L" lenses are still some of the best I've used.

There is the old Novoflex LEM/CAN adapter for Canon FD to Leica M, I think it's still being made. It's well made and expensive.

As with most older lenses, a modern sensor will show that what was great in the 1970s on film and in low resolution might not be all that great on a sensor that is 100% flat, much thinner and less tolerant than film, and lets you pixel peep. People have been discovering that ever since the original Canon 5D came out that started the full frame revolution, and I think they'll continue discovering it now with the Leica M.

 

[kanzlr]

If the R Adapter does not support auto aperture it is as tiresome as using R lenses on a Canon (or Nikon via Leitax).

who the hell shoots everything wide open!?! And focusing, stopping down, Meter, shoot is...tiresome. I sold my GXR because of that. Focusing works best wide open, but photography works better stopped down...


There are oodles of XY -> M adapters since the GXR arrived. I have nice Adapters (Novoflex and Kipon) for Contax/Yashica -> M, Minolta MD -> M and Leica R -> M at home.

 

[dap]

Am I the only one tired of the whole "lens character" thing. Seriously? Not being able to use 15 different lenses of the same focal length on one camera has limited your artistic way of expressing yourself all the years? Gimme a break... I've yet to see one case where a swirly, a painterly, a harsh or whatever bokeh "brush" used, made the difference between a good and a bad photo.

Quite honestly, as far as the vast majority of 35mm lenses are concerned (not including soft focus lenses, lens babies, specialty lenses, etc), I agree with you. I think that many of the differences between the "character" of lenses bandied about on this forum are very minute. Maybe I have a poor eye for these types of subtleties, but unless I am specifically looking for differences (while ignoring the overall gist of the photograph) they all pretty much look the same. I think a lot of the supposed secret sauce that these lenses offer is lost on 99% of the non-photo geek audience. Granted, there are exceptions, but overall 35mm format lenses are pretty sterile.

That being said, many large format lenses (specifically the under corrected oldies) can create very unique looks that most of the non-camera loving population would immediately pick up on. Whether or not that adds to the photo is debatable (sometimes it can REALLY enhance the mood, but more often than not it can come across as heavy-handed) In any case, it is a moot point because the look of these lenses probably wouldn't translate all that well to The M's tiny (relative) sensor.

 

[jsrockit]

Leica M = Ricoh GXR M in FF. Wheeee!

Huh? Are you trying to say Leica ripped off Ricoh?