M240 gone. Again.

Inspiration, Leica M Type 240, Q&A, Teaching point

I have always shared my gear choices/changes freely, assuming it may help some of you considering camera A vs. camera B, or lens A vs lens B, etc. So, along that vein, and at the risk of inviting harsh commentary, I will disclose this:

I have parted, again, with the Leica M240.

Before the M240 was released, I made some predictions about its image quality.  Specifically, I was concerned about base ISO performance vs. its predecessor, the M9.  My concerns were borne out when I viewed the initial JPG images, and then again when I examined sample RAW files.

I posted both my predictions and subsequent analysis on this site.

Of course, some photographers shared my view, and some didn’t.  Those who didn’t were critical of the fact that I hadn’t owned the camera and yet I was judging it.  My rebuttal was that you don’t have to own a camera to judge its image quality.

Well, now I’ve owned it.  Twice.

My honest opinion:  I should have listened to myself.

I tried —I really tried — to make it work (those of you who follow this blog on a regular basis know this), because I really enjoyed the ergonomic improvements.

But I just couldn’t coax the look I wanted out of it.

—Peter.

 

 

Bayer filter cameras are increasingly of little appeal to me.

Inspiration, Q&A, Teaching point

No Bayer Sensor

One of the things that photographing mostly with film lately has done to me is given me a distaste for the Bayer Filter Mosaic upon which almost all digital camera sensors are based.

Something about the images created with the de-mosaicing (interpolative) processes inherent in Bayer-based cameras just doesn’t look right to my eye any more.  They’re simply not good enough.

In the digital world, there are three notable exceptions to the Bayer trend:

(1) Sigma with its Fovean sensor-based DP models.  As a previous owner of the original Sigma DP1 model, I wait with great anticipation for the upcoming Quattro.  However, given Sigma‘s history of building sluggish cameras with a “beta” feel about them, I’m not holding my breath.

(2) Leica with the Monochrom (which sports a modified Kodak CCD sensor lacking a colour filter array).  Of course, the Monochrom is limited to B&W output (not a bad thing, unless you occasionally want/need colour!).

(3) Fuji with its X-Trans technology, where blue, green, and red sensors are “randomly” arrayed.  I’m not convinced about the results, though I do applaud Fuji for pushing the proverbial envelop.

 

Currently, I don’t own any of the above…  I’m in a wait-and-see mode.

—Peter.