Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2019/06/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]While the marketing info ( all that we as consumers receive) tells us that optical flaws in lenses are corrected in camera FW, and in my experience in using LR's lens correction SW, I am not so sure that we are getting all that is important to correct.? I am pretty sure LR corrects for some form of pincushion and barrel distortion.? If you shoot buildings, that is important.? If you shoot landscapes, not so much.Probably there is some vignetting correction.? Easy to do,? so I would expect that too.CA?? Do not know. What else?? The infamous smeared edges of Leica glass on Sony sensors due to oblique optical rays, much less sure...... ( to be fair, why fix another makers flaws on your camera, but the bigger question is if Sony's lenses use?this correction technique.....)? This is an important aberration to correct.? It leads to cheaper lenses that operate as well as great lenses. Who needs floating elements? ?Correct Fstop to focal plane errors in FW. ?Save $$$$. MFDB now have FW-Lens corrections ( as far as I can tell, there is only 1 major player, Phase One).? Not so sure what aberrations they correct.? But the images from these cameras plus lenses get high praise.? Just as Leica does.? The lenses are in the same high price category as Leica. But back to the beginning.... What are the MAJOR causes of lousy photographs, from the majority of users.............? Camera movement, missed focus, crappy lenses, and exposure.? Others? The exposure issue is pretty much fixed.? Done well too!?? Todays exposure meters in camera are remarkably good. IBIS or VR or OIS?pretty much (helped) fixed the camera shake.? Within a large range and to a degree.Missed focus is pretty much fixed by the AF team of AF + Face recognition and eye recognition.? Works pretty well, and is improving.? CAN NOT be fixed in FW or SW..... It has to be right..... GIGO. Now you are down to crappy lenses...... which was the original reason to fix lens aberrations in FW...? Manufacture cheap lenses that will have optical?problems, and then correct problems in cheap FW..... FW does not cost anything other than writing the code ( which IS $$$, but when repeated 10M times, is downright a bargain compared to properly and accurately manufacturing lenses.)? We are talking about optical centering, alignment along the axis, cheaper and more prone to movement materials in the lens mechanics, and other physical lens materials and?assembly problems..... Probably a lot of these could be fixed.? TO A DEGREE.). ?This is an attack on?Leica's forte.... glass. Leica, as an optical company, has spent their time making lenses right at the point of manufacture.? The word PERFECTION comes to mind.? But this costs..... $$$$ and every lens requires the same amount of precision.? Being attacked on their flank of lower assembly costs and lower optical glass costs.? ( Cheap labor, less of it, and using cheaper and less glass itself) is a MAJOR issue for Leica. They have to be s)itting their pants.? They almost lost it in getting into DIgital photography.? They barely pulled that one off.? Lesson learned??? Not so sure although this latest event says they recognize the error....... and do not want to be caught again..... But what can they do?? They now offer the Q2 camera, priced as a P+S at roughly 20x the cost of a cheap P+S.? Good reviews.? Hi Res sensor..... EVF.... all good things..... BUT would I pay $5K to on a 1 lens camera?? I could spend the same and get a Sony with a couple of lenses......? With all the FW improvements, the glass may not be as good, but when combined with the FW, it is good enough..... And this is the crux of their problem...... Out flanked on technology. ?Attacked on their best side by technology that inherently costs less. ?A LOT less. Who NEEDS a 50mm F0.95 lens?? $10,000?? When ISO capability in cameras can go to 500,000 with a 50mm F1.4 lens costs $700 operates at the equivalent of F0.02 ( take ISO 5000, divide by 100 and correct for the Aperture) ?? The DOF is not significantly different...... Leica... take the Q2 and get rid of the lens.? Make it an interchangeable ( M Mount, not some new funky mount, appeal to your base)The lens will COULD?be AF. ?See the Techart adapter that takes MF lenses and makes them AF. ?The market is for the person that Has a stable of M lenses, already. ?Hi res sensor, higher than a classic Digi-M.? RF?? MAYBE!!! (Compete? with the Fuji X-Pro camera)? EVF; YES.? FF? YES!!! Make a companion Q2 model with AF, interchangeable Lens mount ( L in most likelihood) and price it right.... $6K does not make a market leader......especially in a $2k-3K market. It all amounts to your strength.? Great Glass. Great FW will not keep you from disaster. By all means drop the idea of dominating in the area of anything to do with Cell Phones.? You do not have the chops.? It WILL sink you. Frank FilipponeRed735i at verizon.net