[LRflex] R-10 Survey Results...
- From: David Young <telyt@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: leicareflex@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2006 23:01:21 -0700
All:
As promised, here are the results of the R-10 "Wish List" survey.
Many people are very insistent that their pet feature is paramount,
and that I must somehow take that into account. However, sometimes
features, such as 'live view" , while intensely popular with a few,
are deeply unpopular with most. I fear that many will not be pleased
with the results!
Please don't shoot me... I don't make up the answers... I just report
them! The survey will go to Leica (in the form presented below) Wednesday.
BTW: I am very disappointed with the turnout... of over 240 members,
just over 50 bothered to complete the questionnaire. To all those
who did, my most sincere thanks. You did a fine job and it was fun
compiling the answers. :-)
Cheers!
David.
-------------------------------
[1] A fine grained 35mm film is equivalent to about 22 million
pixels. However, given the current state of the art, the more pixels
packed onto a chip, the smaller each one will be. Thus, more
application is needed resulting in more "noise". OTOH, each
generation of chips improves things a bit. Assuming that noise can
be held to the same levels as currently enjoyed by the DMR, how many
pixels would you like to see in the next "R" camera?
[A] 10mp? 2.2%
[B] 12mp? 10.9%
[C] 14mp? 13.0%
[D] 16mp? 23.9%
[E] 18mp? 8.7%
[F] 20mp? 23.9%
[G] Don't care. 17.4%
[2] Full frame sensors create their own problems with vignetting, due
to the angle the light rays hit the outer pixels. This problem is
less pronounced in reflex cameras than in rangefinder ones, due to
the need to keep the rear lens elements out of the way of the mirror.
And, they allow wide angle lenses to work as they were
intended. APS-C sized sensors (as in the current DMR) are lower in
cost, have virtually no vignetting problems and give an advantage to
tele lens users. Your preference for sensor size would be...
[A] Full Frame 56.5%
[B] APS-C or 15.2%
[C] somewhere in between? 28.3%
[3] Sensor format: Many small "Point & Pray" digi-cameras use the
16:9 aspect ratio of the new wide screen TV's. 35mm (and the M8, DMR
and nearly all other dSLR's) uses the classic 3:2 format. Should
the next "R" camera use
[A] the classic 3:2 (35mm) format or 93.5%
[B] the new 16:9 "wide screen" format? 4.3%
[4] Many have criticized the R8 and R9 for their size.... yet praised
them for their ergonomics. Would you prefer the mythical "R10" to be
[A] similar in size to the R8 & R9, 41.3%
[B] similar to the R8 or R9 with DMR (or motor drive) attached 8.7%
[C] smaller, like the R4 through 7 models, 30.4%
[D] somewhere in between the R7 and R9 or 19.6%
[E} even larger than the R9 w/DMR? 0.0%
[5] Newer, polycarbonate bodied cameras are considerably lighter than
the current 'R' cameras from Leica. How important is it to you that
the next generation be lighter bodies?
[A] Very important 28.3 %
[B] not important or 45.7 %
[C] doesn't matter. 26.1 %
[6] Current R cameras offer a variety of exposure modes... Aperture
Priority, Shutter Priority, Programme mode and Manual. Please
indicate which mode (A, S, P, M) you use the most and give a
percentage of use. (For instance, I use only Aperture Priority, so
my answer would be A - 100%. Someone else might be A - 60%, P -
40%) Please list all modes you use and the percentages you use each one.
Aperture Priority 56%
Shutter Priority 5%
Program Mode 16%
Manual 23%
[7] Current R cameras offer Spot, Center-weighted and Matrix
metering. Please list the exposure modes (S,C,M) and the percentages
of use for each, (as above).
Spot metering: 39.4%
Center-weighted: 22.2%
Matrix Metering: 38.5%
[8] Current Autofocus cameras utilize plastic (polycarbonate) lens
barrels. Their lower mass means that they can be focused more quickly
with smaller motors (read lightweight and longer battery
life). Would you want the next R to have autofocus if it meant
going to such lenses?
[A] Yes. 42.2%
[B] No. 57.8%
[9] If Leica were able to build autofocus lenses that maintained the
traditional Leica build quality and materials (as well as decent
battery life), would you want the next 'R" camera to have
autofocus?
[A] Yes 52.2%
[B] No. 47.8%
[10] If you prefer not to have autofocus, or if you would use
existing Leica MF lenses on the new 'R' camera, how important is
focus confirmation?
[A] Very important 28.3%
[B] Somewhat important 47.8%
[C] Not important at all. 24.4%
[11] If Leica were (able) to design autofocus lenses for the 'R'
series... such a change might necessitate a different lens
mount. How important is it that any newer lens mount be compatible
with your existing R lenses?
[A] Absolutely must be compatible, 82.2%
[B] it would be nice, but not absolutely necessary 15.6%
[C] not important at all. 2.2%
[12] If the lens mount were to be changed, it might be possible to
make an adapter which would allow the use of existing lenses in
Aperture Priority mode only. Would this route be
[A] acceptable to you 73.3%
[B] Not acceptable? 26.7%
[13] How important is it to you to have a large LCD screen for
menus/'chimping"?
[A] Very important, 26.7%
[B] somewhat important, 55.6%
[C] not important. 17.8%
[14] Bearing in mind that having "live view" in an SLR means
siphoning some light from the finder to a second sensor, how
important "live view" ... ie: the LCD screen constantly shows what
the camera is "seeing"?
[A] Very important 8.9%
[B] somewhat important, 6.7%
[C] not important. 84.4%
[15] The R8 & R9 finders are amongst the brightest and best anywhere,
and probably second only to the finders in the Leica SL. How
important is finder brightness to you? Should the next 'R' camera's
finder be:
[A] as bright as the SL's finder, 44.4%
[B] as bright as the R8/9, 37.8%
[C] as bright as the R7 finder 8.9%
[D] acceptable at a lower level of brightness. 6.7%
[16] How important is battery life? Remember the longer the life,
the larger (and heavier) the battery. So, within the constraints of
reasonable weight and size (and the number of shot you take in an
average day) , how many shots would you like to see on a single
charge.
[A] 150 (the current DMR's level) 20.0%
[B] 190 (the current M8's level) 26.7%
[C] 250 40.0%
[D] 400 or more? 13.3%
[17] Speed is an issue. Do you use a winder or motor with your
current camera. How fast should the next "R" be capable of
shooting?
[A] 2 fps, 33.3%
[B] 4 fps, 55.6%
[C] 6 fps, 11.1%
[C] more. 0.0%
[18] The other speed issue is that of writing to the memory
cards. Faster writing means you can empty the buffer and shoot more
rapidly, but faster processors consume more battery power. To you, is
[A] battery life more important than card writing speed, or 40.0%
[B] speed of writing to cards more important than battery life? 60.0%
[19] Mechanical noise is always a factor in any camera. Recently I
used a Nikon D-200 and was pleasantly surprised at it's lower noise
level. How important is it to you that the new "R" be mechanically
quieter than the current models?
[A] very important, 31.1%
[B] not too important or 57.8%
[C] not important at all. 11.1%
[20] Price is always a factor. Remembering that the new M8 is
approximately US$5000 and the R9/DMR combo is around $7,500, what
would you expect pay for a new Leica 'R' - assuming it has most of
the features you want?
[A] $4000, 28.9%
[B] $5000, 48.9%
[C] $6000, 15.6%
[D] $7000, 4.4%
[E] $8000, 2.2%
[F] More than $8000. 0.0%
---
David Young,
Logan Lake, CANADA
Wildlife Photographs: http://www.telyt.com/
Personal Web-pages: http://www3.telus.net/~telyt
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