The Digital Solution for R mount lenses

[paulmoore]

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I never doubted Leica's ability and this past year has proved me right in their amazing accomplishment to bring out the m9, s and x cameras..something had to give..sadly, mine and a lot of others' toes were stepped on as they moved abruptly around the R system. I hope they have more tricks up their sleeves and will surprise me with a R compatible camera..but I am not holding my breath and fear my r lenses will have to live with the dmr until it stops working.. a shame because they are under utilized there and beg for a better camera/sensor. I have tried other cameras with r adapters and have not been pleased with that digital solution.

[sdai]

Doug, LCT, and every R friend here, here's one picture you should look at ... which was from Leica's M9/X1 presentation in Japan. I think the X1 lens mount opening is almost big enough for a 35mm FF sensor.

 

What's more interesting is, the product manager of X1 Mr. Kaoru Mokunaka was Panasonic's product manager of L1/Digilux 3 and jumped to Leica Japan in May 2007. He seems to be working at Leica in Germany now and according to some Japanese reports he mentioned that the X1 is the first product he has worked on at Leica, now what will be the second?

 

Again, there may never be a solution for R unless they dig out the R10 from six feet under but this thing will open up some possibilities for sure.

 

We can always guess and wish. I hope this one is "really" my last post on this topic.

 

[Rinse]

 

I'm enjoying using the Canon so much I'm seriously considering selling my Leica lenses for more L glass.

 

 

cwild, I'm about in the same boat as you are with your R lenses, so I have some questions on the Canon.

 

Do you also take photos with your R lenses and an adaptor on the Canon 5DMII?

If so, can you tell with which R lenses and what is the quality of the photographs compared to photos taken with your Canon L lenses. I do know about the stop-down metering etc. but I do not know how the image quality between Leica R and Canon L lenses compares. Do you have any experience in this?

[hamey]

Sdai the X1 is an expensive toy for celebrities, the R lenses are Big and Heavy.

You need a Body that can grip the bulk and weight with ease.

 

Ken.

[cwild]

cwild, I'm about in the same boat as you are with your R lenses, so I have some questions on the Canon.

 

Do you also take photos with your R lenses and an adaptor on the Canon 5DMII?

If so, can you tell with which R lenses and what is the quality of the photographs compared to photos taken with your Canon L lenses. I do know about the stop-down metering etc. but I do not know how the image quality between Leica R and Canon L lenses compares. Do you have any experience in this?

 

I have a 5D Mk 1, but I think the follwing also applies to the 2::

 

Yes I use R lenses on the Canon, and the Canon's focus confirmation works corerectly. Stop down metering is really not an issue for me. The following link will give you information on which lenses work:

 

CANON LEICA-R COMPATIBILITY DATABASE Leica-R and Leitz-R lenses that work on Canon EOS dSLRs

 

I regularly use my Leica 35-70 F4, 90 F2 and 180 F2.8 and get good results. The image quality is excellent.

 

Here are a couple of examples. Firstly the 35-70F4

IMG_0857 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

and the 180 F2.8

Cairngorms from Lochaber on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

Having said that, I recently bought a Canon 70-200 F2.8 L IS, and took identical shots at 180mm with this and the Leica. I'm sad to say that in my opinion the Canon was slightly better. (Slightly sharper with noticably less CA across all apetures), and that's the reason why I'm considering ditching my remaining Leica gear and spending the money on some more L lenses.

[sdai]

Sdai the X1 is an expensive toy for celebrities, the R lenses are Big and Heavy.

You need a Body that can grip the bulk and weight with ease.

 

Ken.

 

I was not saying that the R lenses can be or shall be used on something like the X1, Ken. My pioint is, now that Leica has got panasonic's best man perhaps he would build something based on that. It won't be a replacement to a R10 but probably will open up some oppotunities to use the old junkies.

 

Cheers,

[Jamie Roberts]

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Maybe it's this in some form? I'd kinda like to use R glass on a Phase back

 

Hartblei creates medium format camera with 35mm lens mount: Digital Photography Review

[sdai]

Maybe it's this in some form? I'd kinda like to use R glass on a Phase back

 

Hartblei creates medium format camera with 35mm lens mount: Digital Photography Review

 

I guess they've stolen the idea from the Sinar M. Sinar offers various lens/focus modules that you can swap among each other so you can use different mounts of lenses.

 

It's absolutely doable.

[Jamie Roberts]

I guess they've stolen the idea from the Sinar M. Sinar offers various lens/focus modules that you can swap among each other so you can use different mounts of lenses.

 

It's absolutely doable.

 

Anyone know what the image circle is like on the R lenses?

 

I would love to see one of these put together for R... Even cropping from a 20mp+ sensor might be nice. And I could stick with DMR-like quality too.

 

Of course, the less-than-DMR like ergonomics might be bad, though they mention LiveView for focusing in addition to optical focussing! How can that be, given they're going to a 3rd party back?

[sdai]

Anyone know what the image circle is like on the R lenses?

 

I would love to see one of these put together for R... Even cropping from a 20mp+ sensor might be nice. And I could stick with DMR-like quality too.

 

I think that I have posted the number here at least once but I can't find it now. The one thing for sure is that it's not big enough to cover 30x45 so not to mention 36x48 or even 33x44.

[Rinse]

I have a 5D Mk 1, but I think the follwing also applies to the 2........

 

Thank you Chris for your kind answer.

I think for now I will go for the 5DMII and keep my Leica lenses still with me for a while to try them on the Canon. I Can then allways sell them at a later stage if the quality is worse then the Canon lenses.

Thank you.

[GreyCoupe]

Somehow, I feel certain the digital forum's comments trigger amount to far more than a "disappointed snit" if Leica had elected to abandon both its grand statements about retro compatibility and the entire M line!

 

In this day and age, there would be lots of lamenting, violin playing, and sadly, even litigation!

 

No one here wants Leica to do that, nor to do anything but thrive in its business direction. For me, I --truly-- loved using my Leica R glass. I took a gulp every time I bought a Leica product and paid a price 2X, or 3X, or even 4X for a lens or other piece of equipment in comparison with a Nikon or Canon product, believing Leica truly superior and believing that I would enjoy using it for years to come.

 

I have seldom enjoyed such respect for craftsmanship and pride of ownership of any other product. When I heard that there was to be a digital solution, I was thrilled. But as a serious amateur, I travel with my camera on vacation, and portability in all applications made the DMR a no-go. I do more birthdays and funny shots and urban and wild landscapes than stock product studio photos. While it makes great nice images, the R8/R9/DMR combo is more a professional's studio camera than something I can conveniently use--I found even the R8's winder to be large and bulky.

 

I resent going to the closet for something and encountering these great R lenses, boxed in there in the dark and adding no value or pleasure to my life. Any company who thoroughly left its R faithful in the ditch while loudly proclaiming backward product compatibility must be held suspect by buyers of its new rangefinders and mega sized pro SLRs. I resent the look and and build quality and feel and operation of the lenses on my less worthy SLR, ergonomically inferior digital camera. The inevitable thought enters my mind at the decisive moment about how this image will turn out compared to how it might if I were using my Leica, and this is aggravating each time I depress the shutter button.

 

It could happen to you--and M cognoscenti would like it no more than we do. Perhaps even less.

 

If our M lovers would imagine for a moment how they would feel if there were no more Leica M, and say Leica found so much success in the S2 that they could no longer justify M production, they'd at least be silent as R faithful try to "get over it."

[gdb]

GreyCoupe

 

I quite second your thoughts. I also feel very resentful towards Leica,and I am glad to have run across a beautiful second hand R9/DMR combo. I know it's a heavy outfit, but each time I come back from shooting with a Canon G9 or EOS 450D in RAW, I regret not having taken my R9/DMR with my superb Vario 35-70 f:2,8. To tell the truth, the handle of the DMR fits so well in my hand that the weight is not so much of a problem, even at 66 years.

 

I took the time to listen to Mr Daniel's interview. I heard a man speaking of endless self satisfaction. I found his sentence about not swimming with sharks quite unrespectful to R customers and even to the competition. A good R10 would certainly compete with the N* 3Dx or its competitor from C*. There are not so many people who spend 7 K$ plus for a body, and those who do it would very well consider buying the R10, especially if they already have the lenses for it. Which doesn't mean disinterest for future AF lenses.

 

But lack of marketing sense is nothing new at Leica, and what makes me even more resentful is that they still haven't understood that...

 

Gérard

[rick_dykstra]

Nicely put GreyCoupe.

 

I can understand the problem of swimming with the sharks. Hence Leica's decision to go in the S2 direction. And having done that, would it make commercial sense to also offer a 35mm version, with new autofocus lenses? I was so pleased with the prospect of an S2 based R10 I was already stashing away the loot to buy it. Much of that has now gone on a second hand DMR.

 

What if Leica offered shares in an R10 development project? A 3000 Euro downpayment and you're in. 12 to 18 months delivery, balance paid, R10 delivered. :-)

[gdb]

I for myself would be OK for this good idea.

 

Gérard

[rvalarcher]

+1

[wildlightphoto]

+2 except that my R10 fund has gone toward a backup DMR.

[Angora]

I don't know whether some people at Leica are still silently working on a R digital solution. Or if they did draft the R10 before its supposed scrapping.

 

But in any case, I hope these engineers are reading us. So that they know they're not working, or they didn't work, for nothing.

 

Yes, we're here. We're a bunch here who had been waiting or are still waiting for a R10-like solution. We're maybe a bit out of our minds.

But in any case, thank you for having spent hours on the R10 project.

[rosuna]

A "monster GH-1" with EVIL and a 24 x 36 sensor

 

A M digital camera with live view, R-to-M adapter and an optional electronic viewfinder... does the same.

 

A more specific solution would be even less costly. Consider the price of the M9, replace the viewfinder-rangefinder by an electronic viewfinder... 12.000 euros?

 

Leica needs something different and with future possibilities... not a mere "solution" for R lenses at any cost (for the company). The only riskless "solution" is a M camera with live view and an adapter.

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[mathewhayden]

Hello..

I read your post and I think this is really very good information about The Digital Solution for R mount lenses. I am also R user and just learning techniques. Thank you very much for sharing this information with us. You have done a great job so keep doing good work.