I shot only DNG btw, no JPG, but i don't know which firmware the camera had. I snapped a pic, tried to zoom in, and it was pixelated for.. 8-12 seconds before eventually coming into view. It was unbearably slow. If it proves to be far better with improved FW, it is a much more likely candidate for me, as the high iso, if not best, is acceptable.
kidigital wrote:
With the M8, I've always had better results in high ISO settings by exposing for the shadows. I'm wondering if it'll be the same for the M9.
Brilliant! If you expose 4 stops into the shadows you can literally shoot iso 25600 iso very satisfactorily. Amazing! Never mind that you have set the same shutter speed and aperture as you would at 1600 iso. ;-)
The moire all over these is disappointing. I had hoped that Leica would at last recognise that the market leaders have got it right, and so put a sensible AA filter over this sensor, especially now it's as sharp as 18 Mpixels. Software is not a good way to pretend to deal with this problem.
brainiac wrote:
The moire all over these is disappointing. I had hoped that Leica would at last recognise that the market leaders have got it right, and so put a sensible AA filter over this sensor, especially now it's as sharp as 18 Mpixels. Software is not a good way to pretend to deal with this problem.
Yep. There does seem to be a moire issue with the M9 and whatever software Leica is using is not getting the job done. Dealing with moire via post processing for every image is not a solution and in any case, that only gets rid of the color, not the pattern of the moire.
brainiac wrote:
The moire all over these is disappointing. I had hoped that Leica would at last recognise that the market leaders have got it right, and so put a sensible AA filter over this sensor, especially now it's as sharp as 18 Mpixels. Software is not a good way to pretend to deal with this problem.
The demoirise plugin for photoshop from phase one works fine on these files. Otherwise there's even an FM tool for removing moire. I think you're in a rather silent minority that would prefer an AA filter on these cameras Richard.
ulrikft wrote:
I shot only DNG btw, no JPG, but i don't know which firmware the camera had. I snapped a pic, tried to zoom in, and it was pixelated for.. 8-12 seconds before eventually coming into view. It was unbearably slow. If it proves to be far better with improved FW, it is a much more likely candidate for me, as the high iso, if not best, is acceptable.
Ulrik, make sure when doing side by side comparisons you downscale the M9 shots to 12mp or upscale the D700 results to 18mp.
thrice wrote:
The demoirise plugin for photoshop from phase one works fine on these files. Otherwise there's even an FM tool for removing moire. I think you're in a rather silent minority that would prefer an AA filter on these cameras Richard.
Ulrik, make sure when doing side by side comparisons you downscale the M9 shots to 12mp or upscale the D700 results to 18mp.
The problem is that my d700, which is a CF-card-eater, fucked up my almost new Sandisk Extreme III... so now I just have the Leica shots, I'll reshoot the nikon shots tomorrow, and upres them to 18mp, then make a comparison series! My d700 has eaten 5-6 CF-cards now... starting to see a trend :P should have it looked at I guess.
brainiac wrote:
The moire all over these is disappointing.
Τo be honest I wouldn't have noticed if you hadnt mentioned it, but yeah things do look a little pixelated if you look carefully. I'd have to look at a large print to say if its an issue though, these things always look magnified on screen crops. The noise on the other hand sticks out like dog's balls.
thrice wrote:
The demoirise plugin for photoshop from phase one works fine on these files. Otherwise there's even an FM tool for removing moire. I think you're in a rather silent minority that would prefer an AA filter on these cameras Richard.
I used to use that plug in way back. Like I said though, it does not get rid of the pattern that can sometimes be present with moire, only the color. I have yet to see a major pattern issue with the moire of the M9 so perhaps its not going to be an issue.
ulrikft wrote:
The problem is that my d700, which is a CF-card-eater, fucked up my almost new Sandisk Extreme III... so now I just have the Leica shots, I'll reshoot the nikon shots tomorrow, and upres them to 18mp, then make a comparison series! My d700 has eaten 5-6 CF-cards now... starting to see a trend :P should have it looked at I guess.
Geez, what's up with that! No doubt I'm majorly jinxing myself but I have never had an issue with cards. Something is definitely up with that D700. I'm sure you never ever download images directly from your camera.
I have to say that I had to physically try a number of card readers before I found on that reliably recognised, and transferred, data from both CF and SD(HC) cards. I use the Sandisk one. hth, kl
Well, I'm sure I will now but no, Ever. I always format my cards only in the camera and, of course, only use card readers. 10 years, not one lost image due to a card issue. Perhaps I have just been lucky.
I'm just so confused about the priorities in the Leica digital rangefinders. 0.7-0.8 seconds from standby to "ready to shoot" is... well, abysmal. On the on the D700 it is less than 0.1 sec. You don't notice the delay. Sadly, this was also the fact on my cheapo d40 a few years back. Why can't leica get things like this straight? this is in the core of functions a street photography rangefinder should have..
Hmm, still, if you do 28-35mm somewhere, hyperfocal, the ability to just lift the cam, compose and shoot.. would be great, not lift, compose, waaaait for it, shoot. beacause that will often ruin the moment for me. Or atleast for me the way I shoot with the d700.
Ah I see, I half depress the shutter on my M6 as I bring it to my eye to engage the meter if I'm shooting quickly, I imagine that would also bring the M9 out of standby?
Wait and see, if you weren't planning to buy immediately (although it looks to be a high demand camera) they should be able to get more speed out of it in firmware - after all it is running dual DSP's instead of the single processor in the M8. Stephan Daniel said multithreading was still far from optimal.
True that, I'm waiting a year or so anyway, until I can get one for 3500-4000 USD or less. So I have all the time in the world to see how it turns out I guess
thrice wrote:
Takes me longer to cock a shutter, and longer than that to focus as well. I don't see that <1s delay slowing down my current rangefinder technique.
So do you leave it uncocked after each frame since there is always time to cock it when you see a picture? ;-)
According to the interview posted at LL, you will likely have to wait until the next M version for any major speed increase. I don't doubt they will make small improvements in speed but only a dedicated ASIC such as is used in most modern cameras will bring a dramatic improvement over general purpose dsp's. In that interview, it was stated that the dedicated Maestro ASIC was being developed for the S2 at the same time the M9 was in development and that it was not feasible -or that it would have been risky - to try to include it in the M9 given the development schedule.
(if in fact you were calling me princess - I am rather pretty) So, thankyou 