[Leica] M Lenses on GF-1

[r.s.taylor at comcast.net (Richard Taylor)]

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.
> 
>