jquimby Posted September 15, 2007 Share #1 Posted September 15, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) So someone had to ask for it... On the film side of the house Leica offers two M cameras the M7 and the MP. Digital shouldn't be any different!! Keeping the same design philosophy between the film versions, the numbered M's stay the same with all the whiz-bang features as we have now but they really need to introduce a digital MP. Here goes with my request: -follow Nikon's D3 lead go big on sensor size small on mega pixels, think 36x24mm and only 10mp, light wells the size of paint buckets (mount a noctilux and you could probably pull light out of a black hole) -goodbye jpeg engine and all the processing software/hardware that goes with it. we had to develop film, same with this. Also servers as a differentiator between models -dump the jumbo-tron LCD in the back. I will give you at most a two or three line *small* lcd for lens selection and few other needed menu items, now that the jpeg option is gone think how much simpler the menu becomes. Also servers as another differentiator between models -a dial on the back (yes like the one that already there on the MP) for iso selection and an inner dial for EV compensation, make it click and in one-third stops please. -drop a zero off of the 8000 shutter speed, go back to the "old" shutter, the rubberized cotton cloth silent one. Think how quiet it could be now that there is no film to advance... if you have to put the film advance lever back (a la the epson rd-1) to re-cock the shutter, so be it. Less battery robbing motors, less weight, less to go wrong, and easier to hold. The goal being sound suppression and if it is quieter to do it manually, fantastic. - and last but not least bring back my vulcanite!!! As an old PJ, this is my dream camera... don't get me wrong the M8 isn't bad but it is fun to dream. Any takers? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted September 15, 2007 Posted September 15, 2007 Hi jquimby, Take a look here never hurts to ask: digital MP. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
george + Posted September 15, 2007 Share #2 Posted September 15, 2007 the vulcanite would be nice:) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vieri Posted September 15, 2007 Share #3 Posted September 15, 2007 I'll take one - would still like to have a LCD though, but I suppose I could live without it. As far as shutter speed, 1/1000 max would be fine by me if we could get base ISO 50 or even 25 - which I am not so sure would be feasible. Otherwise, with base ISO 160 (effectively 200) and max shutter speed 1/1000 Leica would have to provide free ND filters this time over... Anyway, sign me in for one dreaming is free, right? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bayerische Posted September 15, 2007 Share #4 Posted September 15, 2007 I hear you! Maybe we wouldn't have to go and design a new MP-D, but make a digital back for the MP as with the R8 and R9. This one, would be much smaller. Battery would be inserted where the film is inserted now. A unit with a hatch of its own, consisting of sensor and necessary electronics would be inserted and replace the normal hatch... Hatch would have a ISO dial, and that's all! No LCD in any form. The ISO dial would stick out perhaps 0.5centimeters to accompany the slot in SD card. No need for FF, 1,33X crop would be fine. So now that I did the HARD stuff, who will develope the actual hardware?! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
egibaud Posted September 15, 2007 Share #5 Posted September 15, 2007 the big advantage of the digital world is the LCD back and histogram, that save us from bad surprises... so MP or not MP I do not see the advantage of removing it. I agree with jpg etc. replace the ISO menu with a wheel or whatever as long as it is simple and direct. Eric Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisC Posted September 15, 2007 Share #6 Posted September 15, 2007 Or .....follow Nikon's D3 lead ..... .....with an ergonomic grip, sweet shutter release in a sensible place, thumbwheel shutter speed control, choice of metering mode, a lovely big 3 inch monitor, and a histogram option to show an enlargement of the histogram's corners. Nah. On second thoughts, that would be far too sensible. .................... Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted September 15, 2007 Share #7 Posted September 15, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) Is the shutter release in the wrong place? Seems to be in the perfect one for this pair of hands. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisC Posted September 15, 2007 Share #8 Posted September 15, 2007 Is the shutter release in the wrong place?...... Well, compared to even the cheapest Nikon with an ergonomic grip, or that other great rangefinder the M7 [that's the Mamiya 7]; yes it's in the wrong place. .................. Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted September 15, 2007 Share #9 Posted September 15, 2007 It's just that when I hold the camera with two hands my right index finger rests on the shutter button. I can't see where it could be placed and be in a better position. Further forward and I'd have to stretch the finger to reach. Maybe it's my hands. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted September 15, 2007 Share #10 Posted September 15, 2007 As Vieri said "dreaming is free..." would be fine but I think that the old shutter could be impossible to assembly in a M8-derived body (and I confess that never used 8000, but 2-3000 many times, and is pleasant); no LCD at all... a hard move... who sincerely, doesn't appreciate to give at least a look at ? Maybe a very small one with histograms only... All ok for no jpgs and ...vulcanite ! Would be nice also have a base of 50 or 80 ISO... but I suspect this would mean ANOTHER BASIC SENSOR... and so we would arrive not to an M8P but to another camera... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
M6J Posted September 15, 2007 Share #11 Posted September 15, 2007 I agree George, the vulcanite would be nice... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted September 16, 2007 Share #12 Posted September 16, 2007 Well - a cloth shutter with 1/250th sync speed then. The original square circle... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lars_bergquist Posted September 16, 2007 Share #13 Posted September 16, 2007 Frankly I think all this is nonsense. First because technically much of this is simply impossible or plain silly, and secondly because Leica is not a Japanese manufacturer who can throw off a design done from scratch just in order to test the waters. Even during the heyday of the Leica M, there existed just three models concurrently, M3, M2 and M1. From the late 1970's there was only one. Now we have three again, and we can realistically expect only replacements for current models – sometime. The old man from the Age of the IIIc Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted September 16, 2007 Share #14 Posted September 16, 2007 ... ehm, Lars... agree... this is a case of "freewheeling chat"... in industrial terms I think it would be pure foolish... maybe apart vulcanite ("a la carte"?)... but I'd never buy ANOTHER M8 for vulcanite only... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lars_bergquist Posted September 16, 2007 Share #15 Posted September 16, 2007 ... ehm, Lars... agree... this is a case of "freewheeling chat"... in industrial terms I think it would be pure foolish... maybe apart vulcanite ("a la carte"?)... but I'd never buy ANOTHER M8 for vulcanite only... Of course not, Luigi! BUT, the Gnomes of Solms do read this forum occasionally. And if we don't indulge in wet daydreams but think realistically about features of a M8-2 or whatever, there may well occur some Freudian Seepage over to Leica Camera. Steve Lee brags in LFI that Leica have never let customers tell them what kind of camera they should make. Instead they make the camera that the customers should have, and then let the customers vote with their money. That sounds great, but this is what Zeiss Ikon did, and it undid them. And Mr Lee does know that. So, dream on – but keep your hands above the cover! The old man from the Age of the IIIc Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrid Posted September 16, 2007 Share #16 Posted September 16, 2007 Well, compared to even the cheapest Nikon with an ergonomic grip, or that other great rangefinder the M7 [that's the Mamiya 7]; yes it's in the wrong place. .................. Chris Sounds like you are not holding the camera correctly. If there is one thing Leica got right with the M series it's the ergonomics. Many people in the field of industrial design consider the M series one of those rare cases where everything fell in place perfectly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
carstenw Posted September 16, 2007 Share #17 Posted September 16, 2007 Leica already has vulcanite for the M8. I saw that the mechanic who visited Leica Camera Berlin had it fitted to his company camera. I suppose they are simply wondering how to fit it. I believe that even now, if you send in your camera (contact them first), and pay the cost (something around €100, I believe), that they will do it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidStone Posted September 16, 2007 Share #18 Posted September 16, 2007 I want a digital Leica III. Please. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisC Posted September 17, 2007 Share #19 Posted September 17, 2007 .....Many people in the field of industrial design consider the M series one of those rare cases where everything fell in place perfectly. That's a good enough reason not to trust the opinion of people in fields. Moooo! ........... Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfarkas Posted September 17, 2007 Share #20 Posted September 17, 2007 Intersting concept. Not sure Leica would ever build it though. The reason for going with the vertical electronic shutter wasn't for whiz-bang. A mechanically cocked horizontal cloth shutter would not phisically fit into the camera. The side benefit of shooting wide open in broad daylight is not a bad one (ie at 1/8000th). RAW only I could deal with, as could many here. Quieter would be nice. As far as "less to go wrong"... it is still a digital camera with comuterized components. The MP is fully mechanical. It doesn't need a battery at all. Any digital camera, no matter how simple in operation will still require power, both computing and battery. David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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