Leica 'The M (Typ 240) - Leica's new baby reviewed' at Tim Ashley Photography

[Amin]

As resolution and ISO performance in 35mm full frame cameras ratchets mercilessly upwards, one of the profound problems facing the serious photographer is that of sourcing lenses that are well enough designed (let alone well enough made) to keep up with the sensors. In fact, with the exception of the Zeiss 35mm F2 lens on the Sony RX-1, I have failed to discover any lens under 50mm that I find fully satisfying on a 25mp or higher camera. So having a cupboard full of unused Leica M glass represented an unbearable temptation: I simply had to get an M 240 because, after a year of D800 shooting, I badly needed my 'fix' of edge-to-edge sharpness from wide-angled lenses that were not only fast, but had plentiful character...

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Excellent review by Tim Ashley.

[Thanks serhan]

 

[Brian]

Leica M, part 2: comparison with Monochrom | The TAO of Leica


CMOSIS has not published the technical specifications of the new CMOS based detector. The only hard spec that I am certain of is the new CMOS sensor has a saturation limit of 40,000 electrons per pixel and the CCD used in the M9, M-E, and M Monochrom has a saturation limit of 60,000. CMOS sensors incorporate a lot of signal processing techniques on the chip to reduce noise, including double-sampling to average out noise. With a CCD, you do not have that capability.

What's all this mean? Images from CCD's require more off-chip post-processing to reduce noise. CMOS sensors can do more with the data before it gets off the chip, and double-sampling means a 3dB reduction in noise before the image gets off chip. The CCD has a higher fill-factor than the CMOS sensor, meaning more material to increase well-capacity.

 

[serhan]

First 24hr impressions at LL:
Leica M240 Impressions