Panasonic G1 and Leica R5 comparison

[leicamr]

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My Mum uses a Panasonic G1 with 14 – 45 zoom lens and my Dad a Leica R5 with a 28 – 70. I took these pictures as I realised that the Leica full frame 35mm film camera is not much larger than a micro 4/3rds Panasonic G1. The weight and feel of the Leica is just so good.

 

If only Leica would supply Panasonic a few R6 or R7 bodies to develop a full frame digital R solution. It all seems so close and yet so far!

 

The quality of the G1 is very impressive. I just feel that the best of Leica with Kodak sensor and best of Panasonic could produce a very special digital R solution .

 

Mark

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[Ruhayat]

Hello.

 

A friend and I were pondering the same thing after I bought my Leica R-E recently. Just take the insides of the GF1, drop it into an R7 body, and sell the R10 at the same price as the X1 and Digilux 2 before it.

 

The body sizes make it almost look like you can just drop the Micro 4/3 engine into an existing Minolta R body. Someone did it with the Apple Mac, so perhaps someone else would be equally audacious enough to attempt it here.

 

Well, it's always nice to dream... that's why we're interested in photography. Although I'm not sure if I'd drop my full frame R-E to get the Micro 4/3 R10... tempting thought, though.

[adan]

I'm still trying to figure out this thread.

 

If one wants to use Leica R lenses on a M4/3rds sensor - there are plenty of adapters out there right now to put them on the current Panny or Olympus bodies

 

If one wants a full-frame camera - that won't necessarily fit on the same package size. A sensor 4x the area running full-time for a live view puts out a lot of heat.

 

If one wants Kodak CCD image quality AND an electronic viewfinder - they are currently mutually exclusive. One needs an interline (i.e. video-camera) CCD, or a CMOS sensor to provide a live image - and Kodak doesn't do CMOS.

 

Or is this just like those conversion kits one can get to "re-skin" a VW Beetle frame to look like a 1930's Mercedes or a Ferrari? Bradley Automotive - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Ruhayat]

I'm still trying to figure out this thread.

 

If one wants to use Leica R lenses on a M4/3rds sensor - there are plenty of adapters out there right now to put them on the current Panny or Olympus bodies

 

Sure you can. But Leica image quality is Leica image quality. Personally comparing the G1, GF1 and E-P1 to my friend's X1, even though the sensors are of similar size (and probably quality), and even though the R lens is used on the m4/3 bodies, the X1 blows all three out of the water. X1 images even look different ("better" would be subjective) -- Leica-like, perhaps -- when compared to the D300 which purportedly shares the exact same sensor design.

 

So what if you dropped the X1 engine into a Minolta R body?

[Ruhayat]

Um. My point being that, Leica somehow takes the same stuff available to other people, and then sprinkles some kind of funky magic dust on it that makes the images look like something you'd expect from a Leica.

 

I have owned all three m4/3 cameras mentioned above, and only the GF1 comes close to X1 output quality. Probably why I no longer have m4/3 cameras, and yet I still hang on to my Digilux 2.

[leicamr]

I guess that I wasn't clear on the point I was trying to make.

 

1, The panasonic G1 micro 4/3rds camera body is not really that much smaller than a Leica R 6 / 7 film body.

 

2, Using the M9 full frame Kodak sensor in an R6, 7 or even R9 body I am sure that Panasonic could develop and enhance both the M9 or DMR electronics to fit inside these Leica bodies to provide an integrated digital R body with the image quality of a DMR.

 

3, Leica to produce a small range of autofocus zoom and a few prime lenses.

 

This would be my ideal R solution.

 

Mark

[adan]

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OK, I see a bit more clearly. So we are not talking about a live-view/EVIL viewfinder (a la G-1), but a classic SLR with moving mirror and aperture linkage.

 

The reference to Panasonic confused me, because they don't build classic SLRs, just EVILs. (Well, they sold a couple based on Olympus bodies (L1, L10), same as the Digilux 3 - but decided it was a losing proposition).

 

I guess I just take Leica at their word that they DO NOT WANT to build classic SLRs anymore, with all the fiddly (time-consuming, expensive) construction needed for the mirror and aperture mechanisms.

 

They ARE willing to build rangefinders (unique market position, simpler lens and lens/body interface construction).

 

They are willing to build an S2 SLR, where the aperture is controlled with no moving parts in the camera - if they can charge $20K per body.

 

They may be willing to produce an EVIL (no moving parts, much cheaper to assemble - an interchangeable-lens X1, if you will) - but that eliminates Kodak from the sensor equation.

 

So I guess the question is, where do these "new" R6/7/9 bodies come from, for Panasonic to further enhance? Not from Leica. They have moved on.