Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/12/15

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Subject: [Leica] RE: New RD-1 photos for comment
From: gkase at ccfc.com (George Kase)
Date: Wed Dec 15 08:21:36 2004

Alex,

RE: http://gallery.leica-users.org/cookingparty

Thanks for the kind words...indeed the 1600 is set on the camera...
I think they compare well to film...they look great to me printed out on
either my Epson 1650 or the Fiery at work...as good as what I used to print
in my darkroom years ago (if not better) what is critical to me in terms of
using my Leica glass with digital is that the leica lenses have "the look"
that I have been looking for for many years. Whether it is my Leica R glass
on my Canon EOS D30 (3 megapixel) or my M glass on this Epson RD-1...they
have a coherence and range of grays (or colors) and contrast and sharpness
(all combined), a certain "look" if you will, that I never got with my Nikon
equipment. The first shot I took with my M6 and a 50mm Summicron some 7
years ago literally blew me away when I scanned it into my computer and saw
it on screen. It can shoot what I see in my head. The prints look great.
Another critical factor is that you MUST get a camera that shoots when you
push the shutter release. Most consumer grade digi-cams don't respond right
away and that is maddening. Look at Ted...he certainly knows his way around
phtography in general and Leica in particular and he's having huge fun in
the digital world with his 20D and R glass...
George

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
Love the shots, candid and well composed isd that 1600 asa from the RD1? but
how do they look when compared to a film shot (interested, not being
critical) can you see a discernable difference between say a DSLR and an RD1
with your leica glass on it? I think when reduced in size and posted many
shots from digicams or even scanned film is hard to effectively judge.
Someone told me = a 6mp DSLR gives way better photos than a "prosumer cam"
of roughly the same capability(mp wise). I just wonder sometimes whether the
sensor is the "bottleneck" in the system or do they have a better resolving
power than the glass etc. I have been thouroughly unimpressed and
disenchanted after a foray into digital via a minolta dimage 7Hi and wonder
if it is worth the risk paying for a DSLR or RD1......

Alex