[Leica] M9 - not much more expensive than M8?

[richard.lists at gmail.com (Richard Man)]

Calm down Geoff :-) I am not leaving the Church of Leica.

I dispute the claim that the M8 pics are much sharper. Why don't we
compare MTF charts :-)? The 35-100 is not the sharpest at F2, but at
2.8, it competes well. The 12-60 is stellar at wide open, but of
course it's 2-4 stops slower than a 'lux. Blaming autofocus errors
are.... unfruitful, as the Leica does not have autofocus. So autofocus
on the M8 and adjust as needed.

As for Colo(u)rs, sure one can tweak anything to look like anything
else, and no, I do not shoot JPG, and no, despite some questions I
have asked you, I am quite familiar with RAW etc. thank you very much.
I know how to use preset on import etc. In anycase, out of the box,
Olympus Colors directly from a LR/ACR default conversion wins hands
down against just anything else.Yes, of course I can say it's better
colors. If Frank and Nathan can say sharper pics :-) That's one of the
things that Olympus really got right.

In any case, enjoy your Leica lens. Really. I do of mine. I don't see
reasons to use the E-3 unless I need the zoom or the tele and macro
capabilities. So about 20% for me. I don't have tons of gears per se,
only one 50, one 35, and one 75, but they are all 'lux ASPH (except
for the 75 of course). I don't spend hours adjusting in LR, except for
dusting when I shoot film.

On Thu, Aug 13, 2009 at 6:04 AM, Geoff Hopkinson<hopsternew at gmail.com> 
wrote:
> Aah Richard you need to come to terms with how Raw files are converted. You
> cannot say that camera X or Camera Y produces "better"' colour. You can say
> that Camera X ,using default conversion settings produces files that please
> me more. that is perfectly valid bit is not an objective assessment or
> comparison. You are describing the whatever default conversion settings in
> whatever conversion software you are using, I think.
> Unless you are shooting jpgs! ?In that case I shall be over to spank you
> shortly! Seriously this is a large subject of course. Just to pick 
> Lightroom
> or Adobe Camera Raw for examples, the default conversion settings for M8
> DNGs are quite conservative. They are only defaults. ?The E3 appears to be
> an excellent dSLR in my limited handling of it and files I have. However
> Nathan is indisputably correct. Your M8 and good Leica glass will produce
> demonstrably better images than the E3 and the best of the very good Oly
> lenses, all else being equal.
> I fear that 17 people will leap in with contrary positions some of them
> perhaps based on criticising Leica or M8s on principle or for 
> entertainment.
> However, if you like to share some basics on your current process, I'm
> confident that the subject is worthy and you should end up better prepared
> to extract more from your new M8. You've only had it a few days, trust me
> your horizons are going to get bigger! ?Define better colour for you. More
> saturated, higher contrast? more natural appearing? What colour space are
> you converting into? How are you comparing the output? Computer screen?
> prints? Squinting at the LCD preview? What profile are you using in LR2?
> Can I suggest that you choose one attribute at a time , I mean focus is a
> separate issue for example, as is your exposure technique.
>




-- 
// richard m: richard @imagecraft.com
// w: http://www.imagecraft.com/pub/Portfolio09/ blog:
http://rfman.wordpress.com
// book: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/745963