[Leica] 25mm f/1.4 "normal" 4/3's lens hits

[hoppyman at bigpond.net.au (G Hopkinson)]

Understood, Mark. I wasn't commenting on whether the four thirds cameras 
deliver enough quality for the commercial/magazine
applications that you mentioned. I've no personal experience with the format 
at all.
Only trying to say that packaging that physically smaller sensor in a 
compact body with compact lenses seems like a great idea to
me. I note from Didier that Olympus have just announced an E-410 for the 
world markets. I hope that they sell a gazillion of them
and influence DSLR designs the way the OM series fundamentally changed 35mm 
SLR design philosophy when first released.
We might be confident that the sensors in DSLRs five years from now will be 
streets ahead of current technology.

Cheers
Hoppy

-----Original Message-----
From: lug-bounces+hoppyman=bigpond.net.au@leica-users.org 
[mailto:lug-bounces+hoppyman=bigpond.net.au@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of
Mark Rabiner
Sent: Friday, 9 March 2007 08:26
To: Leica Users Group
Subject: Re: [Leica] 25mm f/1.4 "normal" 4/3's lens hits

On 3/8/07 6:15 AM, "G Hopkinson" <hoppyman@bigpond.net.au> typed:

> Didier, I have no journalistic expertise nor pretensions. I'm absolutely 
> with
> you on the perception that four thirds cameras ought
> to be compact alternatives to APS-C sensor DSLRs. I do understand the 
> basics
> of tele-centric lens, however I can't fathom why a user
> might accept the limitations of the smaller sensor (noise, crop factor)
> without gaining an apparent benefit in system compactness.
> Perhaps I'm unduly influenced by a 35mm metal SLR upbringing.
> Whatever the reality/performance, I think that Olympus is acknowledging 
> that
> perception with the E-400. I think only for Europe and
> Aus so far? Truly OM like in dimensions.
> 
> 
> Cheers
> Analog Hoppy
> 


Well I saw that photographer walk down the street last week with the 4/3s
camera and she was cooking with steam and I saw the picture of the guy
shooting the Super Babe in the Sports illustrated and what they had in their
hands was a much more compact image making machine than DSLRs. Admittingly
not as compact as they should be. But then either are the DSLRs. Ill get a
D40 for $599 before I spend several grand on a new system. The D40 maybe as
light and compact.
But the new system, the 4/3's will flesh out to compact cameras as well as
full system ones perhaps with interchangeable finders and on cord battery
packs. Maybe set up to be used tethered so the other people can be watching
things come down on the big screen.

I recall Ted having great fun with the Digilux 2 I think it was and that was
an even smaller sensor that 4/3s he seemed to feel at one point there was
little he could not do with that camera. I remember the shot of the half
dome my friend Terance Dixon did in the Viewfinder testing out the new
Digilux compact little thing and it jumped off the page.
Ansel needed sheet film for his output.
Terance needed a very small digital CCD for his.

Commercial photography. Magazines photography: both have uses in which the
output is very specifically not huge. Surprisingly small As I recall TIME
magazines wants two megapixels for a cover.

You can use a disposable digital cardboard camera for that.
Or the Hubble space craft unless it fell from the sky last night.

Mark Rabiner
8A/109s
New York, NY

markrabiner.com