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Q features we will see on Ms?


AlanJW

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While it is true that electronics take more space than a film and pressure plate, it is just a few extra millimeters.

Several compact digital cameras show how much thinner than the M you can go.

 

The M bayonet mount has a rather deep flange distance for a mirrorless system. Sony etc brought the lens closer to the sensor (which tends to require the lens to be longer. So while Leica may be able to reduce the height and length of the camera, reducing the width is impractical.

 

 

Here are the flange distances of various mounts:

 

Fujifilm X-mount   17.7 mm

Sony E-mount   18 mm

Leica M-mount   27.80 mm

Canon EF-mount  44.00 mm

Nikon F-mount   46.50 mm

Leica R-mount   47.00 mm

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The M bayonet mount has a rather deep flange distance for a mirrorless system. Sony etc brought the lens closer to the sensor (which tends to require the lens to be longer. So while Leica may be able to reduce the height and length of the camera, reducing the width is impractical.

 

It wasn't impractical for the film M's.  The flange distance may be set in stone but it is not the only thing that determines the camera's measurements.  I don't think a digital could ever be as thin as a film M but the M240 thickness is not the thinnest it can be.   

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If you look at the A7 body, the sensor is placed near the mount, about half distance or more from the back. There is a huge space behind it, that must be crammed with all kinds of electronics. The M sensor sits deep in the body. That looks and feels much more natural to me. I really disliked the balance of the A7 due to being front heavy even with the tiniest of lenses.

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If you look at the A7 body, the sensor is placed near the mount, about half distance or more from the back. There is a huge space behind it, that must be crammed with all kinds of electronics. The M sensor sits deep in the body. That looks and feels much more natural to me. I really disliked the balance of the A7 due to being front heavy even with the tiniest of lenses.

 

 

The Sony A7 has a flexible screen, the extra casing and hinge equipment is taking up a lot of space. If you look at the distance between the sensor and the rear of the camera, it is smaller on the M240.

 

A LCD is one of the thinner components. I've taken apart smart phones. Take a look at your iPhone or Android device, the LCD on the iPhone 6 for example is a mere 1mm thick, the rest is the battery and circuit board. With a digital camera, most of the thickness is coming from the sensor assembly and the circuit board/processor.

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And I think that picture is wrong. The Nex 7, not counting protrusions, is 8 mm thicker than the M.

 

You are probably not very practical with mm in Texas :)

 

NEX7: 119.9 x 66.9 x 42.6 mm

M240: 139 x 80 x 42 mm

 

post-114364-1428698925454.jpg

 

The NEX7 is about half a millimiter "thicker" than the M, as Sony measures the maximum thickness which includes the grip.

You can also see how the NEX7 is overall (i.e. average thickness) much thinner than the M.

 

Oh, and the fact that it uses an APS-C sensor instead of FF does not make any difference.

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The position of the sensor in the above photo is very revealing. Making the M thinner will force a protruding mount like the Sony , and that entails more VF blockage. Not a good idea.

 

I must be missing something - in the superimposed images posted by CheshireCat, the film plane (from of the sensor) must be in exactly the same place, as the distance from the from of the M and the edge of the E to M Adapter will be the same.  According to that image both cameras have a reasonable amount of space behind the film plane, which does suggest that the M could get thinner - IF the electronics behind the face of the sensor and the LCD (which is immediately behind) could be made smaller.

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I must be missing something - in the superimposed images posted by CheshireCat, the film plane (from of the sensor) must be in exactly the same place, as the distance from the from of the M and the edge of the E to M Adapter will be the same.  According to that image both cameras have a reasonable amount of space behind the film plane, which does suggest that the M could get thinner - IF the electronics behind the face of the sensor and the LCD (which is immediately behind) could be made smaller.

Nope, in the above photo we see only the film plane of the Sony. The M film plane is very near the camera back. I think the M image above is not correct.

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Why is a hybrid EVF and optical rangefinder considered impossible? Is it the insistence that the split-image rangefinder be optical? It doesn't need to be.

 

The Fuji X100T has an optical viewfinder with a popup corner tab that shows - through the lens(!) - a phase-detect driven split image focusing aid. It should not be a big stretch to get that to the center of the finder. You can also switch it to a magnified focus point with peaking.

 

Dante

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Why is a hybrid EVF and optical rangefinder considered impossible? Is it the insistence that the split-image rangefinder be optical? It doesn't need to be.

 

 

The Fuji works with an LCD screen off to the side of the viewfinder with a prism which reflects the EVF into the viewfinder.

This is not too different to how the M240 works with the focus patch and LED framelines reflected into the viewfinder with a prism. The framelines LEDs should be replaceable with an LCD. You'll need a mechanism to block the focus patch when EVF is on. A possible disadvantage would be a RF with lower contrast due to a need to shine through an LCD.

A simpler solution may be to go for a full EVF overlay for the focus patch, instead of optical.

 

If Leica is on the ball they'll be trying out all these possible methods in prototypes to figure out what works in the real world. It may be that they prove less effective than the RF in the M240.

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Attach a Nex-to-M adapter to the Nex-5. Place both the Nex-5 and the M (Typ 24) side by side with the lens mount downwards on a flat surface such as a table. The surface of the display of the Nex will be more distant from the table than the surface of the display of the M. That does not account for any protrusions. It's just the distance from the mount to the surface of the display.

 

I don't know the thickness of a camera display. While the panel might be quite thin, the pane in front of it might not be. In fact, you can see that the hinged display on the Nex is rather more than one mm.

 

(http://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/219736-2014-possibly-a-big-year-for-leica/page-2?p=2504682&do=findComment&comment=2504682)

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Nope, in the above photo we see only the film plane of the Sony. The M film plane is very near the camera back. I think the M image above is not correct.

 

The focal planes are coincident.

The M flange distance is 27.8mm which on a 42mm thick camera is about 1/3 of the camera thickness from the back. As displayed in my picture.

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Making the M thinner will force a protruding mount like the Sony ...

 

Yes, if Leica cannot reduce the dimensions of the PCB and display.

 

... and that entails more VF blockage.

 

No. VF blockage only depends on the size of the lens and the position of the VF windows. Camera thickness does not matter.

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The focal planes are coincident.

The M flange distance is 27.8mm which on a 42mm thick camera is about 1/3 of the camera thickness from the back. As displayed in my picture.

But the width of the body proper as measured by the width of the top plate is just 37mm.
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Yes, if Leica cannot reduce the dimensions of the PCB and display.

 

 

No. VF blockage only depends on the size of the lens and the position of the VF windows. Camera thickness does not matter.

For the same lens size, the VF will be further away from the lens to keep the same blockage, making the camera wider/higher.

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Attach a Nex-to-M adapter to the Nex-5. Place both the Nex-5 and the M (Typ 24) side by side with the lens mount downwards on a flat surface such as a table. The surface of the display of the Nex will be more distant from the table than the surface of the display of the M. That does not account for any protrusions. It's just the distance from the mount to the surface of the display.

 

I don't know about the NEX5, but the NEX7 thickness (measured from M-adapter to the back LCD) will be slightly more, as my picture shows.

Not sure what your point is, though.

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I don't know about the NEX5, but the NEX7 thickness (measured from M-adapter to the back LCD) will be slightly more, as my picture shows.

Not sure what your point is, though.

  

The NEX7 is about half a millimiter "thicker" than the M, as Sony measures the maximum thickness which includes the grip.

You can also see how the NEX7 is overall (i.e. average thickness) much thinner than the M.

 

Sorry, my picture above actually shows a Nex7, not a Nex5.

 

The point is that your statement about the girth of the Nex7 is false to fact. The picture I show here does not include the grip. It expresses the distance from mount to display which is larger for the Nex than for the M.

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