The longest running CCD poll :), asking whether a brand new CCD sensor should reappear in a future Leica M camera, is still running…

Why am I continuing this?

Because I love the rendering of CCD sensors!  The Leica M9 is like a portable digital mini-medium format camera.

At the very least, CCD sensors offer us photographers an alternative choice.

I’ve noticed a few notable individuals who were initially very enthusiastic about the Leica M240 (CMOS sensor camera) have now changed their tune and are subtly conceding that the M9 image quality at low ISO is superior.

So far, I have just over 400 votes…

—Peter.

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Related posts:

• Leica M9 vs. M240
• M240: More Thoughts
• Leica M240: Final Verdict
• Leica M9 sharpness vs. Sony RX1R, Nikon D800E, Fuji X100s
• My camera of the year for 2013

I once wrote:

The first manufacturer, other than Leica, who places a 24 x 36 sensor in a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera can count me in as a customer.  I have no doubt that at some point, somebody will do it.

However, the insanely loud shutter on the A7/A7R is a deal-breaker for me.  You can listen to it in this field test video (courtesy The Camera Store) at approximately 5:22 into the video.

The EVF is already dated too.

Too bad.

Still, you have to give Sony credit for shaking the industry.

—Peter.

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So far, after 125 votes, I’m surprised to see the overwhelming majority of you do want a CCD sensor in a future Leica M.

(By the way, you may still vote.)

Most of the internet fora discussions would have you believe that opinion is evenly split, or perhaps favours the new Leica M(240) and its CMOS sensor.

I know that the sample size of this poll is extremely small, and there may be selection bias at play (i.e., those who follow this blog may be biased towards favouring CCD sensors) — which makes the results tenuous at best — but the results are intriguing.

Perhaps things will equalize as more votes are cast.

—Peter.

As most of you know, I’ve been very vocal about my preference for CCD vs. CMOS sensors…

• Leica M9 vs. M240
• M240: More Thoughts
• Leica M240: Final Verdict
• Leica M9 sharpness vs. Sony RX1R, Nikon D800E, Fuji X100s

…but it looks like the Leica M9/M-E and Monochrom are the end-of-the-line models for 36 x 24mm CCD sensor technology.

Nonetheless, I thought it would be fun to conduct a poll about this, here on Prosophos.com.

Essentially, I’d like to know whether YOU would like to see Leica bring back a new CCD sensor in a future M camera, optimized with whatever current technology exists.

Please vote and voice your opinion, but remember this is just for fun.

—Peter.

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I was surprised to see that above is still the most popular post on Prosophos.com, given I posted it three months ago.

Leica M9 vs. M240

Yes my friends, I guess the CCD vs. CMOS sensor debate rages on… for many.

Not for me though.

—Peter.

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Related posts:

M240: More Thoughts

Leica M240: Final Verdict

Leica M9 sharpness vs. Sony RX1R, Nikon D800E, Fuji X100s

Recently, I asked the question:  How large a print can you make from a Leica M9 file?

For my purposes (portraiture and simple element scenes), the answer turns out to be 36 x 24 inches:

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I thought about this some more, and realized that it would be interesting to see how much of a magnification over the Leica M9 sensor those prints above represent.  If you want to skip the math below, the answer turns out to be 645!

Here’s the math:

The Leica contains a so-called “full frame” sensor that is exactly 36 x 24 mm in size (that’s where the 36 x 24 comes from).

The area of this sensor

= 36 x 24 mm

= 864 mm²

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The prints I made were 36 x 24 inches.

In the equivalent (metric) mm, this translates to

= 914 x 609.6 mm

=557, 174.4 mm²

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The magnification of print-over-sensor area, therefore

= 557,174.4/864

= 645

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This is remarkable when you think about it.  The digital sensor (about the size of a stamp — remember those?) produces an image which is then magnified 645 times to produce the prints you see above.

Proportionally, this is what is going on:

All of the above underscores the importance of technique, lens quality, etc., when photographing with the aim of producing large prints: any “error” will be magnified 645 times!

Of course, you always have the option of turning to the much larger and more forgiving medium format sensors, but that’s another story…

—Peter.