[Leica] Another R option

[cummer at netvigator.com (H&E Cummer)]

Hello Luggers,
I have been off the LUG for a few weeks helping my daughters move house and 
making my annual transition to summer in Canada. Things are now settling and 
summer is coming so here I am again.
About the Sony as an option for R lenses - doesn't Nikon use Sony chips in 
their FF cameras? And if one shoots in RAW wouldn't the output of the chips 
be "more or less" the same?
There may be some differences in in-camera processing to account for Nikon's 
excellent high ISO performance but it seems to me that similar chips would 
have similar output - just the laws of physics and electrical engineering 
applied.
Having said that the Sony may be a perfectly viable back up if one wants to 
retain the R mount for use on R film cameras - but the viewfinder won't be 
anywhere near up to Leica standards that I know.
I played with a Sony A900 in Hong Kong when it was newly released and wasn't 
blown away - it was just another AF DSLR viewfinder.
In my direct experience I prefer the viewfinder of the D700 over the 
viewfinders in my now sold Canon 5D and 1DMkII - but none of them could 
touch the viewfinder in my R8 - also gone.
Also the lack of auto diaphragm control, I found, using long Leica glass on 
my D700, has forced me to move to more Nikon telephoto lenses for the ease 
of maintaining greater depth of field in real life shooting situations.
Doug, I would be most interested in knowing if you go the Sony route and 
what your impressions are if you do. Andrew Nemeth in Australia had a Nikon 
F2 converted to a Leica R mount several years ago but finally abandoned the 
idea. I believe Steve Gandy has the camera now and it has been for sale for 
a long time.
Nice to be back.
Pictures will follow when the gallery is back up and running.
Cheers
Howard (on Pender Island waiting for the humming birds)