Jump to content

M9 firmware upgrade in a few days


sblitz

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 68
  • Created
  • Last Reply
This would really be something especially if it corrects the Voigtlander lenses like my 15mm I would be so pleased!

 

Why should Leica support Voigtlander lenses? The 15mm Voightlander works well on my M9 if you set it for 16mm.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Why should Leica support Voigtlander lenses? The 15mm Voightlander works well on my M9 if you set it for 16mm.

 

I think the beta improves performance with Leica wides and thus should also improve performance with a (or your) CV or ZM wides.

A large part of the user community has CV or ZM (or other 3rd party) lenses now that the mount patent has expired, ignoring the volume of LTM lenses.

Leica are stuck with this which has been compounded by their failure to make lenses at the same rate they made bodies.

A significant % of the kids on the streets with M cameras (or Bessas) have non Leica lenses.

Times must be interesting in the Leica boardroom.

 

Noel

Link to post
Share on other sites

Advertisement (gone after registration)

. . .

A significant % of the kids on the streets with M cameras (or Bessas) have non Leica lenses.

Times must be interesting in the Leica boardroom.

 

Noel

Well if you look at the fact that they are selling all they can produce, then their profits are looking very good! There is always a risk of increasing the work force and factory output to match current demand once that demand is filled. What do you do then? There was a short supply of M8s, M9s when they first came out and once the demand equaled supply? Build special editions? Introduce a new platform? Always tricky being a supplier.

 

One of the biggest competitors to Leica lenses is a used Leica lens. The lenses are in a sense, timeless, no electronics to wear out, purely mechanical. They can be rebuilt buy a competent repair person anywhere in the world.

Link to post
Share on other sites

 

One of the biggest competitors to Leica lenses is a used Leica lens. The lenses are in a sense, timeless, no electronics to wear out, purely mechanical.

 

I think there was a time when used Leica lenses made sense. (This was of course before I actually owned a Leica!) But today, when you peruse Ebay or Amazon, you see used Leica lenses priced too close the price of a new Leica lens. Why would anyone buy a 20 year old lens to save like $300 or $400? We are talking 20 years old!

 

On the Steve Huff blog he wrote about some old pull-out 50mm Leica 50mm lens that could be had for $200. I looked it up on ebay and the average price was $600. Ken Rockwell also has mentions on his site for $200 Leica lenses. These lenses are no longer on Ebay at that price.

 

And when you consider that you can buy a new Zeiss lens for less than the price of a 20 year old used Leica lens, there's even less reason to shop Leica used. I can understand buy new Leica lenses if money isn't an issue for you...but buying used at the prices being charged today, is not wise IMHO.

Link to post
Share on other sites

OK - I'll spill the beans.

 

The new firmware will support all the old lenses (including my *used* 1933 Summar) and correct their design and optical flaws, so that images taken with these lenses will be indistinguishable from those taken with the latest ASPH glass.:eek:

Since all the beta testers, their buddies, and a bunch of other *wise* people are aware of it, prices of vintage Leitz lenses are going up.

Of course, coding of the old lenses will be a considerably more complex operation, which will be charged at premium rate and should bridge the revenue gap until the M10 becomes available. Rumor (take with pinch of salt) has it that this is derived from a strategy originally designed by S. K. Lee.:D

 

Bring on the firmware...

Link to post
Share on other sites

Why should Leica support Voigtlander lenses? The 15mm Voightlander works well on my M9 if you set it for 16mm.

 

 

Yeah the 15mm Voigt works wonderful on the M9 especially if you enjoy red banding at the bottom of the frame. Other than that its mint.

 

I hope the new firmware corrects this so that they perform like they did on the cropped M8 sensor.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Yeah the 15mm Voigt works wonderful on the M9 especially if you enjoy red banding at the bottom of the frame. Other than that its mint.

 

I hope the new firmware corrects this so that they perform like they did on the cropped M8 sensor.

 

Seriously?

 

The 15 won't just work out of the box; for one thing, Leica doesn't even make a lens that wide and can't be responsible for third-party lenses with the firmware. CornerFix will quickly take care of the red edge. It also will not work on the M9 like it did on the M8; two different sensors. On the M8 you're cropping out the corners.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Seriously?

 

The 15 won't just work out of the box; for one thing, Leica doesn't even make a lens that wide and can't be responsible for third-party lenses with the firmware. CornerFix will quickly take care of the red edge. It also will not work on the M9 like it did on the M8; two different sensors. On the M8 you're cropping out the corners.

 

The point is with the new firmware, I heard such wides as the 15mm Voigt will be corrected in terms of eliminating the red bands! It would be amazing I know. Regardless if they are third party lenses or not the new firmware 1.160 is supposed to correct this problem that was the main reason I was so excited when I heard the release and even more so when it passed the final testing phases.

 

I bet the voigt prices will skyrocket for example the 15mm type II will go over $1000. Of course everyone will want one because its a perfect lens for the price. The 18mm ZM is excellent as well.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Why should Leica support Voigtlander lenses? The 15mm Voightlander works well on my M9 if you set it for 16mm.

 

Because Leica had an unexpected great success with its M9 and therefore pays dividend now for the first time since Jesus Christ, so it would be a great gesture to her customers. The 16 mm setting doesn't work for my CV 15 I

Link to post
Share on other sites

It may well be that with new firmware, cornerfix is hardly needed, wel'll see.

 

Well that'll be the day, I wonder if I would want such a software that overrules *for all lenses at once* the simple optical law that the longer the road of light the more loss of brightness, because that's just what it is with red corners. I might as well buy a simple jpeg point-and-shoot then, where you also don't know what the camera decides everything for you before you see the results

Link to post
Share on other sites

The vignetting of wide angle lenses is indeed a fundamental law of optics. Even a perfect lens exhibits it, with a relation of the power of 4 of the cosine of the angle of incidence. However, red discolouration has nothing to do with that: all wavelengths have the same relation of loss in brightness with the angle of incidence. It would be fine if that would be corrected by firmware.

 

Remember: the discouloration is not rotational symmetric around the optical axis and therefore is an artefact not of the lens but of the sensor and subsequent image processing in the camera. I would be very happy with an in camera correction, but can live without it.

 

By the way, the present firmware allready corrects vignetting differently for each lens when it is coded or hand-dialed on the camera.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...