[Leica] M Lenses on GF-1

[jhnichols at lighttube.net (Jim Nichols)]

Hi Richard,

I use Leica-R lenses on my Olympus E-1.  Is there a lot of difference 
between the Summicron-R and the Summicron-M design?

Jim Nichols
Tullahoma, TN USA
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard Taylor" <r.s.taylor at comcast.net>
To: "Leica Users Group" <lug at leica-users.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 15, 2010 9:42 AM
Subject: Re: [Leica] M Lenses on GF-1


> The best way to think about this is to think of each pixel as a tiny 
> bucket with steep sides and the light sensitive area at the bottom.  Light 
> must go straight in in order to be detected.  Light arriving at anything 
> other than almost straight in is either lost or scattered.
>
> That's why the sensors in the M8 and M9 have the offset lenses on top of 
> the sensor.
> They allow the sensor to respond better to the off-axis light coming out 
> of M-type lenses.
>
> SLR lenses are usually retrofocus designs that send the light close to 
> straight in to the sensors and therefore work better on the micro 4-3rds 
> cameras than M lenses do.
>
> Dick
>
> (Who works with sensors like these in the infrared for space missions.)
>
>
>
> On Apr 15, 2010, at 9:17 AM, Simon Ogilvie wrote:
>
>>> I'm also perplexed at how Contax G lenses can be materially better on
>>> Micro Four Thirds than are Leica M lenses, or even CV lenses for that
>>> matter. While I haven't used all on Micro Four Thirds I have used them
>>> all on film and for the most part they're all pretty good. Thus I'm
>>> curious as to why the performance would be so different on Micro Four
>>> Thirds. What kind of adapters are you using?
>>
>> I agree - one of the primary reasons I bought into the 4/3 system was
>> because it allowed me to use my Leica M (and Voigtlander) lenses which
>> don't see much use any more as I shoot very little film these days.
>> The results using these lenses were very disappointing.  The Panasonic
>> 14-45 covers the range of nearly all of my M lenses anyway, so as the
>> results seem better and it's much more convenient to use, I stick with
>> the zoom.    I was surprised that the results from the Contax G lenses
>> looked so much nicer.  Why this is the case when the Leica lenses are
>> so nice with film I cannot explain.  The adapters are the Voigtlander
>> one for the Leica-M lenses, and an adapter imported from Hong Kong for
>> the Contax G with a little manual focus wheel that engages with the
>> focussing drive on the lenses.
>>
>>
>
>
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