TheGodParticle/Hari Posted October 16, 2022 Share #1 Posted October 16, 2022 Advertisement (gone after registration) Dear All, Any experience with this digital back on your analog M’s? I am considering getting one, would love to hear your thoughts. Thank you, Hari Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted October 16, 2022 Posted October 16, 2022 Hi TheGodParticle/Hari, Take a look here I’m Back digital back for analog M bodies. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Huss Posted October 16, 2022 Share #2 Posted October 16, 2022 https://imback.eu/home/new-model/ It takes a beautiful, small camera, and makes it a huge ungainly thing. So not for me. The idea is cool, just the implementation is, well, awkward. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
david strachan Posted October 16, 2022 Share #3 Posted October 16, 2022 Just buy a digital camera built from the start. It's silly and ugly trying to turn a lovely film camera into something it's not. ... 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fotoklaus Posted October 17, 2022 Share #4 Posted October 17, 2022 (edited) Maybe fun for some shots but in the end: Wasted Time and money. Shoot some film and let it be developed and scanned in a good lab. Edited October 17, 2022 by Fotoklaus 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
evikne Posted October 17, 2022 Share #5 Posted October 17, 2022 I'm glad Leica has already managed to put a digital sensor into their film body. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huss Posted October 17, 2022 Share #6 Posted October 17, 2022 11 hours ago, evikne said: I'm glad Leica has already managed to put a digital sensor into their film body. And kept the camera the same size! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGodParticle/Hari Posted October 17, 2022 Author Share #7 Posted October 17, 2022 Advertisement (gone after registration) Looks like the overwhelming consensus is against getting one of these I’m in contact with the Founders, maybe I’ll get a test unit and try it out for some time Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
adli Posted October 17, 2022 Share #8 Posted October 17, 2022 The back seems to project the image on a ground glass and use a small camera on the backside to take a picture of the ground glass. A bit like taking picture of a focusing screen with an iPhone. This gives a rather poor image quality compared to ordinary digital backs. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
madNbad Posted October 17, 2022 Share #9 Posted October 17, 2022 It may not be digital but the same idea: Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Speed Mangy 100 Polaroid back for Nikon F 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Speed Mangy 100 Polaroid back for Nikon F ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/340951-i%E2%80%99m-back-digital-back-for-analog-m-bodies/?do=findComment&comment=4537421'>More sharing options...
pippy Posted October 18, 2022 Share #10 Posted October 18, 2022 (edited) 21 hours ago, TheGodParticle/Hari said: Looks like the overwhelming consensus is against getting one of these I’m in contact with the Founders, maybe I’ll get a test unit and try it out for some time It certainly adds quite a bit of bulk to the original camera body but I think it's a rather wonderful concept! If I had a bit of spare playtime and a few hundred pounds in loose change I think it would be a lot of fun to buy one main unit with some dedicated backs and go out snapping with some of my old film gear. It will also allow this same old kit to be used in 'video' mode. Using, for example, a 1936 Contax II & 50mm Sonnar as a movie camera? Intriguing concept! It would be very interesting to know exactly what the IQ is like. In the link the manufacturers state; "...I'm Back®35 uses a focusing screen, the images therefore are vintage, smooth and are not comparable to a standard digital photocamera, so the result will "resemble" something between analog and digital, or UNIQUE!..." Hmmm.....not too sure what that all means. It does have a 16mp sensor so that's a pretty decent pixel-count but the demo images look very 'grainy'; much the same as a half-way decent - but not brilliant - scan from film done by a typical high street photo shop. I'd still like to learn more about this unit, though. As far as the Polaroid back for the Nikon F goes; my first full-time assisting job back in 1988 was with a photographer who had an NPC ProBack for his Nikon F3. It was a much less bulky affair than the Speed Magny pictured above because unlike the latter design the one for the F3 only shot images in 35mm format. Once the original back was removed the NPC back simply clipped-on in its place; Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! With a bit of careful use two frames could be exposed per sheet of Pola so, for example, trying-out different lighting / exposure-bracketing comparisons (etc.) were possible. It was a VERY useful tool for the sort of location shooting which was 'my' snapper's main work. I'm surprised there weren't more photographers using them. Philip. Edited October 18, 2022 by pippy 1 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! With a bit of careful use two frames could be exposed per sheet of Pola so, for example, trying-out different lighting / exposure-bracketing comparisons (etc.) were possible. It was a VERY useful tool for the sort of location shooting which was 'my' snapper's main work. I'm surprised there weren't more photographers using them. Philip. ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/340951-i%E2%80%99m-back-digital-back-for-analog-m-bodies/?do=findComment&comment=4538034'>More sharing options...
Siriusone59 Posted October 18, 2022 Share #11 Posted October 18, 2022 20 hours ago, TheGodParticle/Hari said: Looks like the overwhelming consensus is against getting one of these I’m in contact with the Founders, maybe I’ll get a test unit and try it out for some time Not something I would use on a 35 but wouldn't mind trying one on a 6x6. Looks interesting but dang I wish they would freeze those pulsing images on their website! Made me dizzy before I could gather enough info. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted October 18, 2022 Share #12 Posted October 18, 2022 Hmmm image quality looks slightly less impressive than a Digilux 1 with a soft focus filter. Seriously, if you want to use old film cameras, use them with film. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
adli Posted October 18, 2022 Share #13 Posted October 18, 2022 2 hours ago, pippy said: ..... It does have a 16mp sensor so that's a pretty decent pixel-count but the demo images look very 'grainy'; much the same as a half-way decent - but not brilliant - scan from film done by a typical high street photo shop. I'd still like to learn more about this unit, though.... It does not have a sensor per se, it uses a camera like this one to take pictures of the ground glass: http://www.camera-module.com/product/mipicameramodule/16mp-mipi-camera-module-sony-imx206-sensor.html Of course this camera has an embedded sensor, but it is a tiny sensor with a lot of glass in front. And it is not Leica glass..... 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
madNbad Posted October 19, 2022 Share #14 Posted October 19, 2022 Not to be a negative Nellie, it would be a real bonus to all of us for someone to give a real report on if and how well it works. If they’re smart, you should get one just for the buzz if nothing else. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huss Posted October 19, 2022 Share #15 Posted October 19, 2022 Leica did this a while ago with the R8 DMR, which was a digital back. It actually could make some excellent pics! And was way less bulkier than this new device. Thorsten has some good info here: https://www.overgaard.dk/leica_digital_back_R.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted October 19, 2022 Share #16 Posted October 19, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, Al Brown said: I'm back sample image. freely downloadable from their website (detail) done with Leica M2. Hard pass. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Thank you for posting one of the creepiest photographs on the internet, I'm glad I saw it this morning and not before going to bed. Overall I think I'd rather recommission an old 10mp DSLR or 3mp P&S for the low tech digital look, or take a modern file and give it a retro look in Photoshop. Edited October 19, 2022 by 250swb 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
adan Posted October 20, 2022 Share #17 Posted October 20, 2022 On 10/17/2022 at 1:36 PM, adli said: The back seems to project the image on a ground glass and use a small camera on the backside to take a picture of the ground glass. A bit like taking picture of a focusing screen with an iPhone. This gives a rather poor image quality compared to ordinary digital backs. No ground glass, according to the diagram in the original link. It simply captures a "virtual" image focused in empty space where the film would be. The optics behind the shutter are permanently focused on the same plane, and transfer the virtual image to the sensor. As noted, the Nikon Speed Magny did exactly the same thing, except that its transfer optics magnified the virtual image to cover Polaroid film, instead of "minifying" the image to fit onto a tiny sensor. However, even without a ground glass, the image does have to go through an extra set of "I'm Back" transfer optics, and who knows how good those are. Who might want it? Anyone shooting older orphaned camera systems for which (unlike the M) there is no modern digital body approximation. Or other systems that have done away with viewing systems devoted whole-heartedly to the dedicated manual split-image focus screens. Leicaflex and Leica R up through the R7, R8/9 (without the cropping of the DMR), and as promoted in the link, the top-of-the-line manual Canons (FD lenses, not EOS) and Nikons from 1960-1990-ish. A lot of those used external add-on motors that were about the size/weight of the "I'm Back," so not a huge leap. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
adli Posted October 20, 2022 Share #18 Posted October 20, 2022 2 hours ago, adan said: No ground glass, according to the diagram in the original link. Andy, If you read the description, it it actually a ground glass, or focusing screen as it is described as: In this Depth-of-field adapter “digital back”, the image is projected onto the focusing screen, is almost 24mm x 36mm. And then we use a digital camera to take a photo of this focusing screen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPA Posted October 20, 2022 Share #19 Posted October 20, 2022 Im my view, this digital back is probably one of the worst ideas of accessories for the Leica M. It looks inconvenient and unaesthetic. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huss Posted October 20, 2022 Share #20 Posted October 20, 2022 I am going to get the brand spankin new M6, and put this digital carbuncle on it. It will never see a roll of film in it. Digital is the future. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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