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Archive 2008 · canon DSLR vs Leica M8 for extended traveling

  
 
tennclay
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p.3 #1 · canon DSLR vs Leica M8 for extended traveling


Lotusm50 wrote:
I was pretty much with you except for this statement. Indeed, a bigger file, more pixels, can be the source of more detail, provided the lens is up to it. That is a pretty good reason for more detail. If you can see a detail difference on the screen, then the detail difference can be seen in a print, provided the enlargement is sufficient. A 1 to 1 comparison is not really difficult at all -- either you reduce one to the size of the other, or you enlarge one. Actually I think enlarging one to the size of the
...Show more

I would agree 100% with your reply - and that is why used the word "could" in my last sentence. .

Yes, it all depends on the print size, and if one image starts with more detail you will be able to see that difference at some size print. It is only logical that my comment about viewing at 100% would translate to viewing a print at some threshold size. Personally, I only print up to 24" wide, and at that size, usually, neither camera produces prints acceptable to me - if there is fine detail involved. I prefer medium format film (I have no MF Digital, and probably never will!) for the larger ranges.

There is a famous thread in which a printing expert declared that his 30x40 prints from the M8 looked like a print from a LF 4x5 camera. That was taken to mean that the M8 files were the equivalent of 4x5 scans, and endlessly referenced across the web as proof of the 'magic' of the M8. Of course not much mention was made of the post processing techniques used (like adding noise to the file to mask the resizing artifacts) to produce that print, or the fact that similar techniques could be used to produce even larger 4x5 prints.

I did a well controlled test of the 5D vs a Mamiya 7II here a long while back. It put a dent in some "conventional wisdom" that the 5D had surpassed medium format and many arguments were put forth to prove that either the differences would never matter or that my technique was biased toward the film camera. Some of those arguments were - "could never see the difference in print" - of course you would at some print size, or "your interpolation was inadequate" - I posted the raw file and no one could produce a better up-res with any of their tools, or "I would do a pano stitch with the 5D" - of course that would never keep up with a pano stitch of the MF camera!

It all points out that personal preferences and goals should be the deciding factor. My intent was not to declare that the M8 produces files equal to or better in every way than the 5D, but more to address the statements presented as fact that the M8 has poor image quality - which is simply not the case.




Jul 19, 2008 at 07:28 AM
Lotusm50
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p.3 #2 · canon DSLR vs Leica M8 for extended traveling


tennclay wrote:
I did a well controlled test of the 5D vs a Mamiya 7II here a long while back. It put a dent in some "conventional wisdom" that the 5D had surpassed medium format and many arguments were put forth to prove that either the differences would never matter or that my technique was biased toward the film camera. Some of those arguments were - "could never see the difference in print" - of course you would at some print size, or "your interpolation was inadequate" - I posted the raw file and no one could produce a better up-res with
...Show more


Yes. I've looked at my Mamiya 7II slide and my 5D output, and I could never understand what people were talking about when they would say that the 5D had surpassed medium format. There is no comparison -- the Mamiya 7II is significantly better -- AND I noticed the difference in prints from Epson 4800 and 4000 printers, not just on the monitor.




Jul 19, 2008 at 07:57 AM
wiregen
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p.3 #3 · canon DSLR vs Leica M8 for extended traveling


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3144/2622314108_838063ca03_b.jpg

You can see the XSi + 24mm f/2.8 zuiko makes a small package.



Jul 19, 2008 at 11:30 AM
angeloks
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p.3 #4 · canon DSLR vs Leica M8 for extended traveling


I would consider the E420 + 25mm pancake. Great little kit.


Jul 19, 2008 at 12:33 PM
wolfloid
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p.3 #5 · canon DSLR vs Leica M8 for extended traveling


"probably because of the camera's in-built noise reduction"

Are you talking about shooting JPEGs?



Jul 20, 2008 at 06:01 PM
brainiac
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p.3 #6 · canon DSLR vs Leica M8 for extended traveling


wolfloid wrote:
"probably because of the camera's in-built noise reduction"

Are you talking about shooting JPEGs?


No. During an interview a Leica employee stated that the camera does some noise reduction on all files before they are saved, even raw files. It is likely that this was necessary because the camera could not easily have an AA filter. Corner fall-off with wide lenses was bad enough as it was. The short register means some lenses have acute angles of incidence, and that increases reflection/fall-off problems in the corners.

I suggested that noise reduction software was active after my first test of the camera when it was released. The suggestion was ridiculed in this forum by Leica enthusiasts. Months later Leica announced that some noise/moire suppression takes place in the camera processor. In my opinion that is why the M8's 10 megapixel files seem to have the detail of 8 megapixel files. Some people call this look 'clean'. If you look carefully at Jack's M8 file and the 5D one which I linked to above, you should be able to see many areas where texture is less than the pixels should be able to resolve. Examine the lack of texture on the rusty upright in front of the turret, for instance. A certain frequency of detail seems to get zapped, as if by a dust and scratches filter.

Edited by brainiac on Jul 20, 2008 at 11:36 PM GMT

Edited on Jul 20, 2008 at 06:36 PM



Jul 20, 2008 at 06:25 PM
wolfloid
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p.3 #7 · canon DSLR vs Leica M8 for extended traveling


"- you get a rough idea where the edge of your picture is
- the M8 has no way to focus wide aperture normal or wideangle lenses on off-center subjects since camera rotation (focus-recompose) changes focus
- you can preview depth of field
- patterns (e.g. railings or brickwork) can be reliably focussed
- no need to turn camera vertical to focus horizontal lines
- no parallax problems when lining things up
- adequate camera information
- adjusts focal length with lens!
- zooms
- lens obstructions (e.g. condensation) are visible
- macro
- long telephoto
- ability to select a focus point
- optional autofocus!
- manual focus confirmation with selected point
- viewfinder stabilised with kit lens and some others
- Liveview with 10x magnification

I could go on, but you get the point. "

So many of your points sound like a checklist for photohobyists - macro, adequate camera information, patterns on brick walls etc. and all of it at the end of a dim tunnel. OK it meets your criteria, and everyone who wants to use long lenses or shoot macro, but what I want is to see my subject clearly, and I don't need the other stuff. In fact it's totally unimportant.

I want to see a momentary expression, a fleeting gesture, a particular relationship of the elements in the photograph as they come together, for that a bright clear view is essential - I don't want some vague indication of them. It also helps that it is easy to see beyond the frame, even to use the right eye and have an unimpeded view with both eyes open and the frame 'hanging in space'. All these are things I feel I'm sacrificing when I go back to the best FF viewfinders. The squinty little APS viewfinders are just the pits if you want to SEE what you are photographing, which, after all is the most fundamental thing. All the rest is just technical help, which, if you don't need it, is all pretty redundant.

As for framing, well this is really very quick and easy and pretty accurate once you get used to using a rangefinder.

As for off centre focusing, there are also quick and pretty reliable workarounds, as I mentioned elsewhere on the film thread. Wideangles on SLRs are notoriously innacurate in focusing wide open, particularly in dim light, whether the subject is in the centre or at the edge. Your objections sound more like a firm preference for SLRs and nothing more.



Jul 20, 2008 at 06:28 PM
brainiac
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p.3 #8 · canon DSLR vs Leica M8 for extended traveling


wolfloid wrote:
So many of your points sound like a checklist for photohobyists - macro


Macro is not a preserve of hobbyists.

...adequate camera information...

Pro bodies tend to have more information around the view, not less.

...patterns on brick walls

...patterns are everywhere - it's quite easy in a rush to overlap two eyes. Grass, railings, trees, fabrics, they can all catch you out and slow you down.

...and all of it at the end of a dim tunnel

Have you tried a 450D? With an f2 or f1.4 lens?

I want to see a momentary expression, a fleeting gesture, a particular relationship of the elements in the photograph as they come together, for that a bright clear view is essential - I don't want some vague indication of them. It also helps that it is easy to see beyond the frame, even to use the right eye and have an unimpeded view with both eyes open and the frame 'hanging in space'. All these are things I feel I'm sacrificing when I go back to the best FF viewfinders. The squinty little APS viewfinders are just the pits if you...Show more

I don't have a problem seeing what I'm photographing. Light is live. I often keep both eyes open so that I can view with one and frame with the other.

> Wideangles on SLRs are notoriously innacurate in focusing wide open, particularly in dim light, whether the subject is in the centre or at the edge.

Not on mine. You must have had some badly calibrated SLRs. The solution is to get the camera fixed. Rangefinders need to be calibrated sometimes too. Miscalibration of focussing mechanisms affects most kinds of cameras. Only liveview is immune to that problem.

> Your objections sound more like a firm preference for SLRs and nothing more.

They are not objections, but descriptions of limitations of rangefinder focussing. No preferences involved. Whether you like to focus and frame with a dim tunnel which gives you a preview of the picture, or a variably small rectangle with inaccurate edges in the middle of a large viewfinder is a matter of preference. That's why I didn't mention the peculiar annoyances of using the longer lenses on certain rangefinders (Contax G system excepted).

Please show me which of the rangefinder shortcomings I pointed out is a matter of preference. It seems to me that they are all just facts, viz.:
- you get a rough idea where the edge of your picture is
- the M8 has no way to focus wide aperture normal or wideangle lenses on off-center subjects since camera rotation (focus-recompose) changes focus
- you can preview depth of field
- patterns (e.g. railings or brickwork) can be reliably focussed
- no need to turn camera vertical to focus horizontal lines
- no parallax problems when lining things up
- adequate camera information
- adjusts focal length with lens!
- zooms
- lens obstructions (e.g. condensation) are visible
- macro
- long telephoto
- ability to select a focus point
- optional autofocus!
- manual focus confirmation with selected point
- viewfinder stabilised with kit lens and some others
- Liveview with 10x magnification

Rangefinder enthusiasts seem to think that you can't pre-focus an SLR, or shoot it with both eyes open, or without looking through the viewfinder. The truth is that you can do these things just as easily with an SLR as with a rangefinder. The techniques of spontaneity work just as well with both systems. Actually, autofocus often allows one to shoot surreptitiously or more quickly or with less need to use the viewfinder at all.

Edited on Jul 20, 2008 at 07:09 PM



Jul 20, 2008 at 06:59 PM
wolfloid
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p.3 #9 · canon DSLR vs Leica M8 for extended traveling


Wideangles on any SLR, whether accurately calibrated or not, are far less accurate in focusing than the same on rangefinders. This is due to the inherent focusing base.

In a rangefinder camera, focusing accuracy is dependent upon two factors, (1) the rangefinder base and (2) the magnification of the viewfinder. The rangefinder base in a Leica M6 is 68.5mm, multiply this by the viewfinder magnification which is .72 and you get an effective focus base length of 49.32 mm. This level of accuracy is constant for all lenses.

In an SLR, focusing "accuracy" is dependent upon the same two factors (1) the rangefinder base and (2) the viewfinder magnification. In an SLR, the rangefinder base is the focal length of the lens divided by the maximum aperture. For example, a 50mm F/2.0 lens has a rangefinder base of 25mm, 50mm/2 = 25mm. And a 35mm F/2.0 has a rangefinder base of 17.5, 35mm/2=17.5mm. A 24/2.8 used on an APS Canon (equivalent of a 38/2.8 on 35mm) has a base of 8.5. Multiply that by the viewfinder magnification, which is .87 and you have an effective base of 7.4mm. In other words almost SEVEN TIMES smaller than the Leica, or SEVEN TIMES less accurate.

Since our eyes don't see so well under low light - focusing an SLR camera with a wide angle lens under poor lighting conditions is neither rapid nor accurate. Even auto focusing can do nothing to compensate the tiny effective base length.
So, as you see this has nothing to do with calibration and everything to do with physics.

The rest of your remarks, I've already answered. As a photographer I don't want a camera that can fulfill all my hobbyist dreams. I know what I want to photograph, which excludes macro, sport, long-shot nature stc. etc. and I prefer the ergonomics, size, accuracy and uncluttered viewfinder of a rangefinder, which frames accurately enough for my use.

If you want the versatility that an SLR undoubtedly gives, and all the techincal aides that can help you, then fine. What I want is simplicity, the speed of working that I have developed and to see as clearly as possible what I'm shooting.



Jul 21, 2008 at 05:42 AM
wolfloid
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p.3 #10 · canon DSLR vs Leica M8 for extended traveling


The Canon 5D with a 21/2.8 has an effective focusing base of 7.5mm x viewfinder magnification, which is .71, and = 5.325 mm. Or over nine times less than the EFB for the equivalent lens on a Leica. In other words the Leica is over nine times more accurate in focusing such a lens.

Even on the great 24/1.4 the EFB is only 12 mm. 4x less accurate than a 24 on a leica.

The 35/1.4 has an EFB of 17.5 mm, just more than a third of the Leica with the same lens, meaning the Leica is three times as accurate when focusing.

So unless these expensive Zeiss/Canon lenses are focused at infinity, it is highly likely that there is going to be focus error, which will only be compensated by depth of field.

Maybe this is why wide angle leicas can 'pop' the focus when shot close up and wide open.



Jul 21, 2008 at 06:01 AM
brainiac
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p.3 #11 · canon DSLR vs Leica M8 for extended traveling


wolfloid wrote:
> Your objections sound more like a firm preference for SLRs and nothing more.

> I know what I want to photograph, which excludes macro, sport, long-shot nature stc. etc. and I prefer the ergonomics, size, accuracy and uncluttered viewfinder of a rangefinder, which frames accurately enough for my use.

> If you want the versatility that an SLR undoubtedly gives, and all the techincal aides that can help you, then fine. What I want is simplicity, the speed of working that I have developed and to see as clearly as possible what I'm shooting.


?

The list of rangefinder limitations I offered above was not a list of my preferences - it was a brief description of some of the limitations of rangefinders, which may affect some photographers. Your preferences for not shooting a great many things doesn't make that list redundant for other people.



Jul 21, 2008 at 06:08 AM
s23chang
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p.3 #12 · canon DSLR vs Leica M8 for extended traveling


I think just one feature in the 450D "Live-View" is enough to confirm its focus accuracy far more than the M8.
As far as image quality goes, the 450D's high pixel density with excellent NR works wonders.
It is a great camera for telephoto work.

IMHO, either you are a pro or not, these two features alone out weights the M8 body itself.

However, Leica is not just about camera body. It is the lens that really made it stand out of the crowd.

To get the best out of these M lens, the M8 might be still the only way to go until the M10 comes out

What's special about these mini M leneses? small and sharp and easy to travel with.

Meanwhile, many can enjoy the R lens on the Canon body from wide to telephoto plus the excellent Canon L long lenses and zoom lenses for actions.


In the end, regardless if you are a pro or not, photography is still a hobby and it will always remains as a hobby. Any choice one makes doesn't really matter. Equipments are just tools for creation and THAT'S ALL folks.




Edited on Jul 21, 2008 at 06:16 AM



Jul 21, 2008 at 06:11 AM
Andi Dietrich
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p.3 #13 · canon DSLR vs Leica M8 for extended traveling


wolfloid wrote:
The Canon 5D with a 21/2.8 has an effective focusing base of 7.5mm x viewfinder magnification, which is .71, and = 5.325 mm. Or over nine times less than the EFB for the equivalent lens on a Leica. In other words the Leica is over nine times more accurate in focusing such a lens.

Even on the great 24/1.4 the EFB is only 12 mm. 4x less accurate than a 24 on a leica.

The 35/1.4 has an EFB of 17.5 mm, just more than a third of the Leica with the same lens, meaning the Leica is three times as accurate
...Show more

Most folks here use AF confirm chips when adapting lenses




Jul 21, 2008 at 06:19 AM
Andi Dietrich
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p.3 #14 · canon DSLR vs Leica M8 for extended traveling


wolfloid wrote:
Wideangles on any SLR, whether accurately calibrated or not, are far less accurate in focusing than the same on rangefinders. This is due to the inherent focusing base.

In a rangefinder camera, focusing accuracy is dependent upon two factors, (1) the rangefinder base and (2) the magnification of the viewfinder. The rangefinder base in a Leica M6 is 68.5mm, multiply this by the viewfinder magnification which is .72 and you get an effective focus base length of 49.32 mm. This level of accuracy is constant for all lenses.

In an SLR, focusing "accuracy" is dependent upon the same two factors (1) the
...Show more

I would recommend you to use a 85L for a couple of days and maybe after this experience you could look at this
http://www.imx.nl/photo/technique/technique/page49.html



Jul 21, 2008 at 06:19 AM
wolfloid
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p.3 #15 · canon DSLR vs Leica M8 for extended traveling


You seem to have ignored my comments on how innaccurate your APS SLR is when using wide angles.

"Your preference for shooting etc... doesn't make that list redundant for other people."

I never said it did. I was quite clear about why I prioritise a bright viewfinder (uncluttered) and accurate wide angle focusing.



Jul 21, 2008 at 06:23 AM
wolfloid
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p.3 #16 · canon DSLR vs Leica M8 for extended traveling


Andi,

Yes, once you get to the portrait range of lenses rangefinders and SLRs begin to equalise, and then with longer telephotos SLRs are more accurate. The 85L on a Canon 5d has an RBL of 70.8mm x VM .71 = an effective base of just over 50mm - almost the same as an M6 base length.

The article you linked is talking about focus issues and compatibility between Konica RF and Leica bodies and their respective lenses. What has it to do with innaccuracies of Wide angle SLR or rangefinder focussing?



Jul 21, 2008 at 06:33 AM
brainiac
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p.3 #17 · canon DSLR vs Leica M8 for extended traveling


wolfloid wrote:
"Your preference for shooting etc... doesn't make that list redundant for other people."

I never said it did. I was quite clear about why I prioritise a bright viewfinder (uncluttered) and accurate wide angle focusing.


What you said was "Your objections sound more like a firm preference for SLRs and nothing more". In fact the list of rangefinder limitations (not objections) that I offered is worth contemplating if you are wondering whether to get a rangefinder. The limitations I listed are not affected by my preferences. They are not opinion. They are intrinsic to current digital rangefinders.

Edited on Jul 21, 2008 at 06:51 AM



Jul 21, 2008 at 06:51 AM
brainiac
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p.3 #18 · canon DSLR vs Leica M8 for extended traveling


wolfloid wrote:
You seem to have ignored my comments on how innaccurate your APS SLR is when using wide angles.

once you get to the portrait range of lenses rangefinders and SLRs begin to equalise...


Hilarious. Has this got enough pop for you?

http://cyberphotographer.com/5D/CZ351.4/0805.jpg

That's a camera jpeg BTW.

Edited on Jul 21, 2008 at 07:00 AM



Jul 21, 2008 at 06:56 AM
wolfloid
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p.3 #19 · canon DSLR vs Leica M8 for extended traveling


"Most folks here use AF confirm chips when adapting lenses"

This makes no difference to the inherent limitations of SLR focusing of wideangle lenses, since the AF is throught the lens and is limited in accuracy by the EFB. In otherwords AF focusing with wide angles is very inaccurate, unless a separate rangefinder mechanism, which is not through the lens is used. (which, as far as I know, none do use.)




Jul 21, 2008 at 07:02 AM
Jman13
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p.3 #20 · canon DSLR vs Leica M8 for extended traveling


I for one appreciate knowing the difference in rangefinder focusing. I didn't know that. I still think the Leica M8 is wildly overpriced, but if its what works for you, then go for it. I'd love a digital rangefinder with good lenses that won't break the bank, but none exists right now.

I do run into the difficulties in manually focusing wider lenses (focusing my Takumar 35 f/2 is quite difficult in dim light), though it's fine in brighter light.



Jul 21, 2008 at 07:06 AM
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