[Leica] New M(246) Outputs 12 bit Files

[Frank Filippone]

Mark and others....

The issue of 12 vs 14 bits is not straight forward.....  Yes, the difference
in a straight line way is 4 times the data, but really that means there is 4
times the GRADATION in the data.  More gradation = more smooth transitions
between different tones.

Assuming the saturation point ( top value) and lowest point ( pure black, as
in more black is just not possible) remain fixed. Then there could be a bit
of non linear-ness to the ADC... There may be more values in the bright
areas, and less in the dark areas.... still achieving the same dynamic
range,. But 12 bits and 14 bits could have different non-linear transfer
functions....  Which, in the context of photography, may not be at all easy
to see with the eyes.
 
Let me stop here... I spent the better part of my working career in
understanding the intricacies of ADC products.  If I go any further in the
explanation, I will lose almost everyone.    Suffice it to say that what we
do not know exceeds what we do know. 

Yes, there is a story out there... Yes it is important that we know what
that story is, in theory.  In practice, the M246 seems to produce better
images than the MM.... 12 bits 14 bits or some other number of bits.

I agree with Mark.. HDD storage is so cheap that 12 vs 14 bits is a
ridiculous reason to chintz on the ADC resolution.  There is some other
reason.  

Or, someone made a bad assumption in the first place and this whole thread
is a waste of time.

Frank Filippone
Red735i at verizon.net

Peter according  to some guy on the internet its not a matter of a few steps
up from 12 to 14 bit. Its  4 times as many shades of intensity in a given
range.
That sounds like a big deal for me.