yongfei

<p>Today I am quite excited. Because I know if I ever successfully capture an full frame image under daylight condition, that would the the first strong prove to every Leica lovers that a full frame Leica is indeed possible. Ok, I did it with a $20 russian screw mount lens, but I will continue further if I have the resources to custom made a few adapters. Right now, all my components are non destructive and resuable in nature.<br>

So the first thing I do is pointing my camera to the street, and I get the following picture. Seems the lens distance is too far away from CCD, so the camera couldn't focus to infinity. But what a beautiful out of focus blur! It wouldn't win any photo contest. But for a test shot, it is decent enough to prove that I do have a functional full frame M39 mount camera! And as you can see, there are no visible darkness in the four corners. Also, the color from the MF digital back is very neutral. I only applied very little curve this image.</p><div></div>

<p>The front view of my prototype camera</p><div></div>

<p>Like many of you, I have been wondering how the wonderful 35MM/1.4 Sumilux will work under full frame. Since I cann't mount it yet, I took the risk of scratching CCD surface or the lens end glass, and handhold them together to take a few test pictures. Because the lens is about an extra 5mm flange distance away from the CCD, it only alows me to take pictures at very close distance.</p><div></div>

<p>Here is another test shot this evening. I will take a few outdoor pictures tomorrow. If someone is wondering how a Noctilux 50/F0.95 will perform on the full frame, he can send the lens to me and I will test it for free:) <br>

To be practical, I will focus on tesing this screw mount lens first, then figure out a way to mount the M bayonet lens, for which the short flange distance is really a challenge for adaption...</p><div></div>

<p>This is one of the full frame test pictures taken by the Industar. If you look closely, you can find some dark corners. It is at about F8.</p><div></div>

<p>Orville, thanks for your encouragement. My real intention is to use the internet to show Leica AG that it is technically possible to develop a full frame M camera. Yes, it would much look like a M5 or even bigger.<br>

My main components are readily available: Eyelike M11 digital back in Hasselblad V mount, Copal #1 shutter, and a lens plate made of three 3" floppy disks. The shutter has a 40mm thread. So I need to hold that 39mm SM lens tight to take pictures.<br>

Therefore if I can do it, I am sure Leica company will also be able to do it. But whether it is financially feasible is another matter. But I belive that a full frame CCD sensor M camera can be made under current CCD technology. And my mission is to prove it.</p><div></div>

<p>Another picture</p><div></div>

<p>I am still processing a few test pictures and will post them soon.</p>

<p>I have been interested in Leica M camera for serveral years and I want to see a full frame Leica M digital camera. Most people would say that it can't be done under the current CCD sensor technology. But I want to do my own experiment to find out the possibility of a full frame Leica M camera. Now I have acquired a 24x36MM digital back, so I used it as the back end. First, I tried to use the Leica 35mm/1.4 Summilux as the lens. But found the lens end protruding too much. So I switched to Industar 55mm screw mount lens as the lesn for the testing of my prototype camera. I am so excited that I have got crystal clear pictures tonight!<br>

So my assumption is: a full frame sensor on M camera is technically possible, but it requires the redesign of some of the Leica M lenses. Also, for wide angle, maybe SLR type design will be needed to avoid dark corner vignett. But I think some people would be happy to sacrifice a little quality on the wide angle side, in return for a full frame Leica M camera.<br>

I will post some pictures here soon.</p><div></div>

I am referring to Seagull models only. The old Seagulls use 3 elements, the 107/109 uses 4 elements. Yashica 124G also has 4 elements.

Sorry, my mistake. I mean can not adjust shutter speed after winding, especially across the 1/30 (back and forth).

 

I got a Yashica 124G instead of Seagull because of this issue.

 

The new Seagull 107, 109 uses 4 elements Tessar design. So the image quality should be better than those old ones.

According to some Chinese discussion groups, the Seagull TLR can not adjust apeture settings after the shutter is winded. Otherwise, it may jam the camera. If you can strictly follow the correct sequence, then a Seagull should be fine.

 

The following discussion link has a lot of pictures taken by Seagull.

http://forum.xitek.com/showthread.php?threadid=487077

It should be available for order now from digital back dealers. You may follow this link for more information about CFVII. One additional feature is it is now a fanless design.

http://www.hasselbladinfo.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2924

>But on the contrary, it does have all the things I'm worried about in the 503.

 

I am sure you have many other things to worry about in H system:)

 

Mamiya just comes out AFDIII that can use leaf shutter lens in future.

 

You may also check the new CFV-II promotion on Hasselblad USA website. They will bundle a CFE 40MM IF with the package.

You can print out the following two addresses and take a taxi to go there. In Chinese, these two locations are called "Camera Equipment City", so it should have all kinds of cameras and accessories....

 

北京市海淀区五棵松路40号器材城

http://www.bjphoto.com.cn/html/2007-05/101.htm

 

北京马连道摄影器材城: 北京市宣武区马连道路11号

http://www.syqcw.com/Info/index.asp?id=30

Here is some info about CFV II. In addition to the following, the new version has a fanless design.

 

New display

The first obvious change is the size of the new bright, high contrast 2.5 inch TFT display that provides a strong image even in unfavorable lighting conditions. In addition, the button ergonomics have now been improved to produce a more secure user-interaction. This includes a sinking of the on/off button, helping to avoid inadvertent activation in a camera bag, for example. Other, though not so obvious, changes include an improved circuitry that secures date and time recording for file-naming purposes.

 

New IR-filter

But none of these improvements would be so interesting if results are not positively affected. That is where the new anti-reflex coated IR-filter comes in to practically reduce internal reflections to zero. This is particularly obvious in more difficult lighting situations that can be troublesome such as strong highlights toward the edge of the frame. Digital calibration has been enhanced to work with the new IR-filter. The Hasselblad Natural Color Solution accurately reproduces the full visible color spectrum � be it skin tones, special product colors, or difficult gradations � easily and effectively, every time and with the use of a single color profile. Our complete knowledge of the filter and sensor characteristics of each individual camera has made this possible. Simple, correct, and indispensable.

As for digital backs, I am interested in the ones with user adaptable interface for multiple MF systems. Only Sinar and Hasselblad (Imacon) backs offer this important feature.

 

I tested the Hasselblad CFV on Hartblei, but unfortuantely the back has to be triggered with a flash-sync cable only, and under 1/30 sec.

 

In digital age, a 6x6 camera with a 48x48mm CCD will be perfect, as you don't have to turn around the heavy camera on tripod. Focus will be easier and more accurate as one can more often place the main object in the split-image center spot, and crop later. Also, one can use the waist finder to reduce the camera weight. Of course, others can always argue that a 48x48mm CCD will be so expensive to produce that 48x36mm CCD will save the cost siginificantly.

Hartblei has many different meanings. I bought a Hartblei (Hassy back) camera from Mike in Atlanta which is quite good. But the focusing screen was dark. I ordered a screen upgrade from Arax, which is brighter.

 

The main problem with Mamiya approach is the stop down metering. So I use an Exakta 66 as a second camera instead.

 

One benefit of Hasselblad compatibility is it has the 220 film back option. I read somewhere that WalMart can develope 220 slide very cheaply.

 

As for digital back, I think both will work as long as the synch speed is under 1/30. I tried a finish eye with CFV on my Hartblei. The purple fringe was very very high. But the result with 50MM, 80MM and 120MM lenses come out very good. The dealer told me that I can tape an ND filter in front of the CCD glass to keep all shutter speed under 1/30 sec.

Hartblei can use Hasselblad back. This is a big plus.

I actually tested my Hartlei (hasselblad back interfact) with a Imacon 96 back. It works great under 1/30 flash synch. Great as a studio camera. For outdoor, I think you can use ND filter in front of lens, or even in front of back.

 

Here are my studio test shots (forks on a plate): http://forum.xitek.com/showthread.php?threadid=175698

Maybe you should bring your pinhole camera to a dealer and test it.

 

I tried CFV with Hartblei (Kiev 88). We played more than 1 hour with different settings. It only synched under 1/15 via flash synch. At 1/30, the picture has a lot of pink color.

 

I did some research, and think maybe the back detects an exact pin (color, size, length etc). Just like you put a coin in a vending machine. Better to be true money, otherwise it is able to figure it out. You just can't cheat it:)

I am from China. In my country, Oriental (= East) is a very very good word. It represents sensitive, mystic and romantic feelings. Asia is a more matter-of-fact discriptive word. That's why we have a train called Oriental Express ;)

 

So I guess one man's perfume is another man's poison.

Now the rumor I read is that the Zeiss Ikon uses a ZM mount. The following lenses will be available for 2004:

 

PLANNAR/ZM50/2?ABIOGON/ZM35/2?ABIOGON/ZM28/2.8?ABIOGON/ZM25/2.8.

 

Let's wait and see.

That logo is Cameraunion's. These four Chinese letters stand for: Color, Shadow, No, Limit. My translation for them is The Absolute Image.

 

Xitek is a famous net ID in China, equivalent to Greenspun. He published a camera book and build a camera discussion site. It was used to be www.xitek.com. Now it is www.cameraunion.com. It is the equivalent of photo.net, may be even better ;) You guys should start to learn Chinese now;)

 

Xitek's motto is: before photography, there is always a camera.

This is indeed from Photokina. A shutterbug sneaked in and took lots of pictures. This is one of those pictures.

 

Looking at the back of those silver lenses, they match the front RF camera in color. So I would assume we have at least a few M mount Zeiss lenses. But of course, it may just be those lenses that are licensed to Rollei: i.e.: 40mm, 50mm, and 80mm.<div></div>