David, Thank you for the thoughtful survey choices and for compiling the results. I'll tuck them away to compare with it when it arrives. I hope Leica will find them useful in choosing their "point design" among the many parameters. All my best, Bill On Oct 24, 2006, at 11:01 PM, David Young wrote: > 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 > > > > > > > ------ > Unsubscribe or change to/from Digest Mode at: > http://www3.telus.net/~telyt/lrflex.htm > Archives are at: > //www.freelists.org/archives/leicareflex/ ------ Unsubscribe or change to/from Digest Mode at: http://www3.telus.net/~telyt/lrflex.htm Archives are at: //www.freelists.org/archives/leicareflex/