M9 processor "brain" too slow?

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eleskin

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I checked out a link on leica rumors.com and there was a link to s review by digital journalist.org and the one fatal flaw in the m9 is the processor chip is too slow for the files it generates. If true, this could be a deal breaker for many. For 7k I would have expected faster write speeds than the m8, and it seems it is the same. I still plan on buying the m9, but now I am asking myself if I should wait until they use a faster processor chip on the camera. There are way cheaper canons and nikons that have faster chips. For $7,000, why does the m9 have a slower processor? This would be like selling a brand new imac with an old g4 chip!
 
I get much faster frame rates from My Nikon F100 too compared to the M6 and the M6 cost three times more. They were made to do different things.
 
Which gives rise to the question: why does he shot DNG+RAW and why does he hose down the subject DSLR-style?
 
Rayt said:
I get much faster frame rates from My Nikon F100 too compared to the M6 and the M6 cost three times more. They were made to do different things.
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Why then did Leica produce winders and motors (continuous 3fps)?

When a faster chip is merely a question of money I think it legitimate to ask why a $7,000 camera can't do better.
 
Come on people, we all know what the answer to this is. The camera is as good as they could do right now, it is a full framed in a very small body with little room for extra this and extra that. And at 7000 dollars? 3500 of that is the red dot, come on you all know that.
 
What I have heard is that M9 has the same chip as the M8 while the M9 files are even larger. This means that DNG+Jpg is something you can forget. Still at DNG only shooting the M8 is slow. Then M9 got to be even slower.

I am more concerned about M9 corner sharpness and corner colours. Have any of you seen an extensive test on this issue? How is corner sharpness/colour with, say, WATE?
 
Ooohhh, the wonderfull new M9 isn't the love machine it was supposed to be. Wonder how many M9 owners will be thinking, "got shot of that damn M8, now this".

It was about this length of time after the M8 release that users started noticing certain things. Buy in haste . . .

Forgive my obvious pleasure but I can't help feel that the now proven and reliable M8 aint so bad after all and a quarter of the price.:D
 
I tried DNG + JPEG on the M8. It was too slow, so I stopped using it. I've no doubt it's even slower with a file size nearly twice as big.

So? If you want a DSLR and video, buy a DSLR with video. If your style of photography can't handle deciding when to press the shutter release, and not 'hosing' the scene, don't buy an M9.

But don't assume that this 'disadvantage' will necessarily stand in the way of quite a lot of good photographers whose style is different, and who can't see what you're whining about.

(Usual disclaimer: not 'you' personally, but the whiner)

Cheers,

R.
 
Horses for courses.

If you want to `machine gun` a scene at 8fps, buy a DSLR.

A Leica is about caressing the scene, tenderly picking at choice moments, not obliterating it and choosing what's salvagable from the carnage.:cool:
 
Point taken, though by `machine gunning` I was referring to firing off endless bursts of a particular scene. A rangefinder was never designed or intended for that branch of photography.

For sure a bigger buffer etc is always nice but as usual, how much is enough?

To put it in perspective, the processor in most modern digital cameras is more powerfull than the computers on the Apollo missions.
 
Olsen said:
What I have heard is that M9 has the same chip as the M8 while the M9 files are even larger. This means that DNG+Jpg is something you can forget. Still at DNG only shooting the M8 is slow. Then M9 got to be even slower.

I am more concerned about M9 corner sharpness and corner colours. Have any of you seen an extensive test on this issue? How is corner sharpness/colour with, say, WATE?
Click to expand...
With the Summilux 24 the corner sharpness and colour is all you could desire, As soon as I have my 21 back from repair (it fell to pieces internally) I will report. Some posters have reported a minor magenta vignetting problem with the 18, but not with the WATE. A firmware thing no doubt. I believe Leica doubled up on the processor btw.
 
The author of the review (who I believe posts on the RFF from time to time) actually wrote that the slow processing rate was the only "major (though hardly fatal) flaw of the M9." In other words, "inexcusable," but he can live with it. Link here: http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0911/camera-corner-the-leica-m9.html

Personally, having a faster processor in the M9 would be nice, like having matrix &/or spot metering, but it's hardly essential to the way I work w/that type of camera.

eleskin said:
I checked out a link on leica rumors.com and there was a link to s review by digital journalist.org and the one fatal flaw in the m9 is the processor chip is too slow for the files it generates. If true, this could be a deal breaker for many. For 7k I would have expected faster write speeds than the m8, and it seems it is the same. I still plan on buying the m9, but now I am asking myself if I should wait until they use a faster processor chip on the camera. There are way cheaper canons and nikons that have faster chips. For $7,000, why does the m9 have a slower processor? This would be like selling a brand new imac with an old g4 chip!
Click to expand...
 
jaapv said:
With the Summilux 24 the corner sharpness and colour is all you could desire, As soon as I have my 21 back from repair (it fell to pieces internally) I will report. Some posters have reported a minor magenta vignetting problem with the 18, but not with the WATE. A firmware thing no doubt. I believe Leica doubled up on the processor btw.
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Thanks Jaap,

Do you follow Reid's reviews? Do you know if he has tested M9 corner sharpness with different wide angle lenses yet? I will not renew my ReidReview subscription before Reid has tested M9 wide angle performance,- which I think is critical. Further, I will not be a Leica beta tester this time. So, I don't want to buy a M9 before I have seen a thorough test on wide angle lens performance. If I am going to spend 7,000 $ on a new camera I want to know what I buy. This time.
 
First of all the M9 has dual processors to cope with the larger files, so it probably writes as fast as the M8.
I got to shoot with the M9 over a long weekend and I shot RAW only. I didn't notice any buffer lockups or any other speed issues in capturing. I DID notice that it seemed to take a lot longer to bring up preview images though.
I can't see a reason for wanting to shoot RAW/Fine Jpeg, but that's just my point of view.
 
Faster processors require more power and generate more heat. The M9 is a small camera, and that means a smaller power source- battery.

Still faster than my M3DS. After all, this is the 21st century.
 
Roger Hicks said:
I tried DNG + JPEG on the M8. It was too slow, so I stopped using it. I've no doubt it's even slower with a file size nearly twice as big.

So? If you want a DSLR and video, buy a DSLR with video. If your style of photography can't handle deciding when to press the shutter release, and not 'hosing' the scene, don't buy an M9.

But don't assume that this 'disadvantage' will necessarily stand in the way of quite a lot of good photographers whose style is different, and who can't see what you're whining about.

(Usual disclaimer: not 'you' personally, but the whiner)

Cheers,

R.
Click to expand...

I can take good pictures with the 1936 Voigtlander Bergheil I learned photography on but it would be unreasonable to complain about the lack of modern electronics. I don't think it unreasonable to complain about an expensive "latest and greatest" electronic camera that lacks a common capability. No use anyone criticizing someone's technique as not worthy of a Leica user - that defense of Leica shortcomings (especially electronics) is getting rather old.
 
You know despite all this doom and gloom, I still want the M9. Its the only digital full framed solution we got, and that alone will be enough to sell them by the boat load.
 
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