@david-farkas
active 1 year, 3 months agoForum Replies Created
Stuart Richardson;233 wrote: Yes, agreed! But did you watch that interview with Peter Karbe on Luminous Landscape? I liked the part where he suggested the performance of the 120mm at infinity would be on par with 280mm. It must be a staggeringly good lens…
I was sitting in the room during the interview. I am the voice to the right of the camera. 😉 I've also had private interviews and meeting with Peter on other occasions. He has repeatedly said that the S lenses are the best Leica has ever made. No small statement.
As for the firmware suggestions, the noise reduction function sounds ideal. So ideal, in fact, that if it was easy to implement I am sure they would have done so already. Did Dr. Zimmer mention why they had not implemented this? It seems to be an obvious benefit to photographers if it is something that is possible to put into firmware.
Same goes for smaller steps in the ISO — I agree it would be a nice feature, but doesn't each ISO setting require individual tailoring in the camera firmware? I guess that is a lot of work. My suspicion is that they did not offer incremental values because it would have required more programming time, while not being a big issue for most photographers. I agree it would be very convenient, however…For example, I often shoot film alongside digital, and being able to synchronize the meters at 100, 400, or 800 is simply a little less confusing than having one camera at 100 and another at 160.
I'm honestly not sure why they haven't done the ISO steps yet. As to the more advanced sensor readout options, this is indeed fairly complicated programming and more core features have taken priority, like continual improvement of AF algorithms.
Feedback on threads like this one are invaluable for making our wishes as users known. Leica product management has repeatedly asked us for user input and suggestions. So, keep 'em coming!
David
David Farkas
Red Dot Forum
Leica Store MiamiStuart,
Welcome to Red Dot Forum.
As Josh said, we've used the Microprism screen and it is very nice and bright. Unfortunately, Leica hasn't started shipping the screen and hasn't given a specific delivery date yet. Here are some images from Photokina of the screen and looking through the viewfinder:
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David Farkas
Red Dot Forum
Leica Store MiamiJack MacD;228 wrote: With huge photo files the norm with either the M9 or S2 I look forward to seeing more options for external hard drives that connect with thunderbolt. Even the connection cords are rare so far. Does anyone have any experience with thunderbolt yet?
Jack,
Perhaps the better question is why 2011 Macs don't come standard with USB 3.0? It's backwards compatible with USB 2.0 and is becoming the norm in the PC world. Yes, Thunderbolt boasts speeds of 10Gb/s and USB 3.0 is only 5Gb/s, but there is no currently shipping SSD that can even move data that quickly and saturate the maximum throughput of SATA 3.0 (6Gbs) which is 600MB/s. The fastest SSDs can do about 375MB/s. USB 3.0 has a maximum throughput after protocol overhead of 400MB/s. That is very, very fast and a perfect match for SSDs. Some perspective here: Firewire 800 is about 90MB/s.
Don't get me wrong. The more I learn about Thunderbolt the more impressed I get. I think for the long term, it is a great protocol and will be adopted by PC makers next year as Intel makes the chipset available to all OEMs. Apple is clearly targeting the professional video editing market which requires high data rate file streaming for real-time editing. Units like the Pegasus RAID from Promise utilize Thunderbolt for a stated throughput of 500 or 800MB/s depending on drive config. http://www.promise.com/storage/raid_series.aspx?m=192®ion=en-global&rsn1=40&rsn3=47
Here is an in-depth review of the Pegasus from AnandTech: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4489/promise-pegasus-r6-mac-thunderbolt-review
In the review, they achieve 600MB/s transfer… but not from an internal drive, which caps out at 225MB/s from the stock Apple SSD on SATA 2.0 (3GBs). And, 4k random read/writes were an abysmal 1.5MB/s. Even an average SSD can do 35MB/s here. This is where you really feel the performance advantages of SSD and often image editing is a lot of these smaller read/writes not large sequential ones used for video streaming.
When on the road, we are more likely to back up to a single portable external drive. Even 7200RPM spinning drives can only deliver a maximum of around 125-150MB/s sustained transfer rate. SSDs with their sustained read/writes of 375MB/s and USB 3.0's 400MB/s would be a perfect match for small, portable external drives that perform like internal ones.
By all means, Apple should put Thunderbolt on every new Mac, laptop or otherwise, but please, please update those dated USB 2.0 ports to USB 3.0 and give users some choices to accommodate current needs.
David Farkas
Red Dot Forum
Leica Store MiamiJust a quick note to let everyone know that deliveries of the M9-P in the US have started. We expect to receive our first shipment from Leica on Monday, July 10.
David Farkas
Red Dot Forum
Leica Store MiamiGorgeous! Love the water and richness of the greens.
David Farkas
Red Dot Forum
Leica Store MiamiDavid K;216 wrote: I haven't seen Marc post here yet so I'll take the liberty of passing along a comment he made on another forum relating to ISO settings. He feels, and I agree, that having more ISO settings would be a good thing. Something in between the existing options. This would be even more useful if the noise reduction firmware suggestion is implemented. Perhaps they could be bundled together in the next update…
David,
I actually have this in my initial list. It is a big one for me, too.
David Farkas wrote:
ISO in third or half stops rather than whole stopsDavid Farkas
Red Dot Forum
Leica Store MiamiOkay, here is a big one I left off that I've written about before…
Dr. Zimmer, head of digital R&D, explained that noise could be reduced by either dropping the sensor readout from 24Mhz to 12Mhz or by using a dual readout vs. a quad readout from the sensor. Either of these options would cut the continous frame rate in half and double the time from capture to review, but also would deliver a one stop improvement in noise performance. He indicated that it should be possible to make these changes on the fly in firmware. So, here's my suggestion:
Allow the user three modes to choose from:
- Regular
- Reduced noise
- Lowest noise
The regular mode would operate like it is now.
The reduced noise mode would cut the readout rate. ISO 1250 would look as good as 640, 320 would look like 160 and base ISO 160 might been look a little better, too. The trade-off is that the continuous shooting rate would drop to 0.75 fps.
Lowest noise mode would cut the readout rate AND switch the sensor to dual output. The effect should a be 2-stop improvement in noise performance. An extended ISO of 2500 or even 5000 could be offered. ISO 2500 would look as good 640. The drawback to this setting would be a reduction in frame rate to 0.375 fps and probably a good half second to display on the LCD. Pretty slow, but could mean the difference between actually getting a shot and getting nothing.
Compared to pixel binning options like Phase's Sensor+, this solution would offer full resolution not 1/4 res.
David Farkas
Red Dot Forum
Leica Store MiamiMark Gowin;160 wrote: Jack,
As I recall, the S2 has never performed parallel writes of the DNG to both CF card and SD card. I was shocked to discover that parallel write really meant it writes the DNG to the CF card and JPG to the SD card when you have the S2 set to DNG+JPG. If you have the S2 set to DNG only, then it doesn't write anything to the SD card until the CF card is full. If you want to write to the SD card first, then the only option is to leave the CF card out of the camera. I don't understand why Leica has not allowed true parallel writes of the DNG file. I understand that it could slow down the camera, but it would be nice to have the option so I can choose for myself whether I want a fast camera with no backup or a slow camera with a backup.
David, Josh, or others please correct me if I am wrong.
Mark
Mark,
Your explanation is exactly right. No correction necessary.
I hope that Leica chooses to change the parallel option in firmware so that a DNG file can be written to both cards.
David
David Farkas
Red Dot Forum
Leica Store MiamiFMB;148 wrote: Dear M8 owners
I've my M8 as a back camera, I've also an M9 with a good set of Leica lenses, and I'm thinking if now is a good moment to try selling the camera alone or with the Elmarit 2,8 24mm.
Some main questions:
– Is it easier to sell only the camera or camera+lens?
– Which do you consider is the price for both alternatives? Both in a very mint condition.I'm preparing to upgrade my M9 to M9-P or buy eventually a next M10.
My best regards for all of you,
Francisco.
Hi Francisco,
Welcome to Red Dot Forum!
Generally speaking, it is easier to sell M bodies and lenses separately, especially when the bundled lens is a more specialized one like a 24. Unless you are selling something like a M9/50 Lux or M8/35 Cron combo you are unlikely to find a buyer for a kit.
Values range from about $2800-$3400 for an M8u depending on what upgrades are installed and the condition. The 24mm Elmarit ASPH is worth about $2500 in mint condition. It might be a bit more if 6-bit coded.
Hope this helps.
David
David Farkas
Red Dot Forum
Leica Store MiamiGPLeica;147 wrote: For those of us who have been shooting the S2 for awhile and are printing larger than, say, over 30″ in width, what are the lowest shutter speeds you feel comfortable shooting handheld? I assume that if you're like me, I bought the S2 because I wanted super sharp images, or, if not the whole scene, selected portions of images. And yet precisely because the S2 lenses and sensor are so fine, any blur from handheld movement is very noticeable when you print large. I've seen where people swear they can handhold a shutter speed that is twice the focal length of the lens in use on the S2. But in my experience I need to go one shutter speed greater to ensure sharpness. What are others' experiences here?
And thanks, David, for putting this new forum up and for the invitation to join! It shod prove to be a valuable engagement platform for all of us in the U.S. who are shooting with Leicas and love photography!
Geoffrey
Milford, PAGeoffrey,
First, welcome to Red Dot Forum.
As far as hand-held shooting, my best success shooting with the 70mm has been trying to stay above 1/125th. Of course, I have sharp results from 1/45th to 1/90th as well, but 1/125th to 1/180th guarantees crisp results.
The 35mm is much easier to hand-hold as the angle of view is much wider. I am able to get tack-sharp results at 1/45th to 1/60th and I've had success hand-holding down to 1/24th. Due to the greater DOF wide-open and the slower shutter speeds required, this has become my low-light go-to lens.
And, going the other way, I try to shoot the 180mm at 1/360th or 1/500th, even though I have gotten sharp results at 1/250th.
So, like others, I've found that the basic rule on the S2 is to keep your shutter speed at or above 2x focal length. If I am just walk-around shooting, I'll usually keep the camera's ISO set to 320. There is almost no degradation of image quality vs. 160 and I get the benefit of one stop faster shutter speeds.
The other thing I've noticed is that my percentage of sharp hand-held pictures at similar shutter speeds has increased as I've gotten more experience with the S2.
David
David Farkas
Red Dot Forum
Leica Store MiamiJack,
This is pretty neat tech. I'd be very curious to see how much power output they are able to get. Looks like the unit uses and array of about 112 LEDs. I seriously doubt they can even match the light output of an on-camera strobe, let alone a portable power pack, but I won't dismiss something I've never seen or used.
While continuous lighting certainly has some advantages, it also has one major drawback (besides power). Strobes have extremely short durations, some as short as 1/12,000 sec. Essentially, if your strobe is illuminating 90% or more of your scene, this is your effective shutter speed, not your camera's sync speed. The ability to freeze action gives the effect of extreme sharpness and clarity.
All that said, I think the idea of a light that automagically changes the color temperature on the fly to match ambient conditions is pretty cool. Of course, this has way more use in HD-DSLR video than in still photography, where a camera operator must often follow actors through changing lighting conditions. Hence why they are building the array to an aspect ratio of 16:9.
David
David Farkas
Red Dot Forum
Leica Store MiamiKurt Kamka;94 wrote: … on camera and off. I need to take a deep dive and understand a bit more about the SF58, basic settings and any other secrets you wish to share.
My confession: I've never really taken the time to understand flash … I've compensated by finding faster lenses and better higher ISO cameras. I've used flash a few times over the years but have always set it aside finding alternative ways to shoot. I realize that mastery can't be attained in a few hours … but there must be a few basic settings and techniques that can be utilized on the way to that deeper dive.
Inexcusable … yes. Time to remedy the situation … yes.
Kurt
Kurt,
The Leica SF58 works remarkably well on the S2. The fact that you can sync at any shutter speed up to 1/4000th of a sec is pretty cool and very useful for the kind of shallow DOF work that you do. Set the camera to A (Aperture priority) and f/2.8 (or whatever you choose). Point and shoot with perfect fill light outside.
For indoor, I'd suggest a similar approach but at higher ISO and slower shutter speed in order to capture more ambient light. So, let's say ISO 320 or 640, 1/125th @ f/2.8. For an even more natural look, use these settings but point the flash straight up (assuming the ceiling is low enough and white/neutral enough). My trick is to rotate the flash head so that it is running long ways with the lens barrel with the swivel to the my right. This allows you to quickly swivel the head to aim up the ceiling when shooting vertically and back down again for horizontal shooting without having to rotate the head as well.
I think you'd be surprised how easy it can be to get natural looking results with this setup.
David
David Farkas
Red Dot Forum
Leica Store MiamiBeautiful shot, Kurt. Which lens?
David
David Farkas
Red Dot Forum
Leica Store MiamiMark Gowin;91 wrote: Josh and David, thank you for showing me what is possible. I am embarrassed to admit it but truth be told I have purchased three previous Photoshop versions (CS2, CS3, and CS4) with every intention of learning how to use it each time I purchased it. It's funny that it took me three well intentioned tries before I figured out not to buy CS5.
I seemed to never find the time to learn Photoshop and the flexibility of LightRoom made my need for Photoshop a much lower priority. However, here is a good example where Photoshop can save an image. Also, I have no ethical problem with combining these images because the end result will be very close to what I saw and I am just overcoming limitations of the camera.
Mark,
No problem. Actually, I realized that anyone else looking at these image might not want to download the whole 37.5MP image, so I'm attaching a 1500×1000 composite to this post.
Regarding PS upgrades, I am still using CS4 on my personal machine. We have CS5 at work, but composites like this can be done just as easily in CS2.
Oh, and here is a screen grab of my layers pallet, so you can try yourself.
David
David Farkas
Red Dot Forum
Leica Store MiamiMark,
I was on the same wavelength as Josh apparently. I also used Lighten for my blending mode, but added some curves adjustments with clipping paths. This applies the curves layer to only the layer immediately below it. So, I boosted the brightness of the firefly images a bit and brought down the background image to make it look more like dusk. I also used three firefly images on top of the background image, but all could be used if you want to take the time (and RAM) to pull them all in.
David
David Farkas
Red Dot Forum
Leica Store Miami
