Leica Monochrome sensor made by Platinum Equity (Kodak sensor).
Our super good sources informed us that the new Leica M camera coming on May the 10th will feature a Black and White Full Frame sold by Platinum Equity. As you know Platinum acquired the Kodak business and they are going to sell the Kodak developed Black and White sensor to Leica.
The list of available Black and White CCD sensors is still available on Kodaks website (Click here). The sources didn’t tell me which one it is but they said the camera pixel per pixel sharpness is unmatched by any of the current Full Frame cameras. Not even the super new Nikon D800 (36Megapixels) can match it!
Photon Phil
2 years ago |This is gonna be some expensive substitute for B&W film but hey, somebody in Qatar has enough $.
Sergio
2 years ago |Maybe not. If you do things yourself with BW film you need a good scanner. And today there is no middle ground scanner. It is either a commodity flatbed or high-end that can cost as much as a medium format digital camera. And you need to do things yourself with BW to get the most out of it. Sending BW film to a lab is like shooting only JPEGs in a digital camera.
The smaller the negative the better the scanner needs to be with a very high MTF optical path to get decent results. But you can shoot medium format film and get pretty good results with a commodity flatbed but something like the discontinued Nikon Coolscan 9000ED was a good middle ground scanner for medium format film.
People have become too spoiled with their instant results to do film much anymore but it can actually be a lot of fun to shoot it for a hobby.
byazrov.com
2 years ago |those sensors are as slow as snail can go.
and they always say it’s unmatched or something,
but it never means it is the best.
Sergio
2 years ago |oops wrong reply
Tom
2 years ago |Having compared Foveon output to Bayer cameras lacking AA filters I’ve come to the conclusion that pixel-per-pixel resolving has more to do with demosaicing algorithms than anything else; thus a B&W sensor will get amazing results.
Whilst the Fuji X-Pro 1 does produce beautiful output, I can’t help thinking that its 6×6 array is holding it back!
Dummy00001
2 years ago |> thus a B&W sensor will get amazing results.
But it is B&W?!
admin
2 years ago |yep!
Zonkie
2 years ago |Yes, the color filter (be it traditional Bayer or the X-trans in the Fuji) is a big problem for resolution and sensitivity. You can never get really sharp images out of such sensor because no matter how good the demosaicing algorithm is, in the end it’s just a matter of guesswork. Images will always be blurry by design.
And about sensitivity, they have to block 2/3 of the light that hits each pixel to let only one of the 3 primary colors in. That’s also quite killer.
So without a color filter you do gain a lot in resolution and sensitivity. Of course you lose colors, but for black and white photography it is a big advantage.
AnuN
2 years ago |It is an issue for sensitivity, especially under artificial light. However, for resulution CFA is not really on issue – if you check out measurements, you’ll notice that Bayer sensor cameras resolve around 90% of maximum possible.
Zonkie
2 years ago |But the output is never completely accurate. It comes close thanks to good guesswork and that thing called sharpening, but when you see a “non-debayerized” picture you do notice the difference.
So while we might be speaking about subtleties, not having that color filter does give that extra excellence to the image quality that a Leica shooter would appreciate. At least I for one think it’s a good idea to make this special camera. But we’ll have to wait and see the results to really judge if it’s that much better or not.
AnuN
2 years ago |If some mystica “complete accuracy” is needed, then you need to forget image sensors. You need to think of the anti-alias filter, or lack of it – if there is none, there will be aliasing, and nature is not aliased. Aliasing is wrong information, essentially through the whole recording. On the other hand, if you have AA filter, then you need capture sharpening.
(You mixed AA-flter with CFA – if CFA sensor has no AA-filter, no capture sharpening is neede.)
Anyhow, no color filter has one major advantage – no light lost to filters, and one major disadvantage – no colors.
Additionally there’s the problem of using the antique (ex-)Kodak CCDs – they’re noisy. This limits the dynamic range and shadow quality. But the midtones can certainly be excellent, though without color – also, one will want to use color filters on the lenses to get the kind of black and white one wishes (like yellow filter).
Zonkie
2 years ago |But without CFA, is the anti-aliasing filter still needed? Honestly, I don’t think it is, and I’m sure the camera won’t have it. At such high MP count, aliasing is not a problem for a rather long time now. Only moiré is a problem with the lack of AA filter, but in this case it’s obviously not an issue.
Anyway, let’s wait a few days to see some image sample and judge. My guess is that the IQ (especially the resolution) will be really great. Sure Kodak’s sensors are not that good about noise and DR, but the lack of color filter might compensate for that.
Salty
2 years ago |Ricoh should try and license this sensor for their GXR system.
c.d.embrey
2 years ago |The Swedish Digital Cinema camera maker Ikonoskop, just announced a B&W Digital Cine camera http://www.ikonoskop.com/blog/a-cam-dii-pancromatic/
“The images produced will take black and white electronic cinematography to another level by a monochrome sensor producing an amazing range of gradations.”
With Ikonoskop joining Phase One and Leica in building B&W digital cameras, it looks like a Renaissance for B&W.
BornOptimist
2 years ago |All sensor except the Foveon, are in nature b&w (measuring light intensity). The colors are made by the color filter. So this sensor is nothing different than the one Leica use on the present camera, but with the color filter removed. The camera will also look exactly similar to the M9, with the same LCD, same controls, same viewfinder, same battery. The difference will be in the software.
Mikey
2 years ago |The difference will be in the software… and the PRICE! This will probably cost Leica users another 2k I imagine. At least now Leica users have an excuse to own two Leicas.
bananacam
2 years ago |It doesn’t seem like anything <31mp would be applicable for the new Leica on that sensor list (too few fps or very low resolution)
Personally, I wish the next M would just use a normal color CMOS sensor from Sony.
Stefano Mazza
2 years ago |Kodak in the past attempted to sell a digital monochrome camera, the Kodak DCS 760m, but it seemed not the best state of the art and it was left aside soon.
I invite you to read the following post:
http://stefanomazza.com/2012/05/01/monochrome-digital-camera/
Kevin
2 years ago |with the current rumors, the only thing i can be certain of is its unaffordability — if there is such a word…
Lorenzino
2 years ago |Concept is clear enough
DtEW
2 years ago |I mean, I totally understand it, and probably will crave one myself once we see the results… but does nobody find it ironic that for once we’re gonna progress/upgrade to B&W?
aleckurgan
2 years ago |no, we’re not progressing/upgrading to b&w. we’re just going to get a replacement product for the b&w film.
steven
2 years ago |Does shooting in B&W improve IQ on standard cmos sensors such as one found in the nex-5n?
jack
2 years ago |Steven,
Negative, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayer_filter . Every so called color sensor on your camera is only sees light and dark. The color sensor in front of the individual sensors allows it to see light and dark in the appropriate wavelength so that it can then be converted into a color image. The problem is the staggered pattern. All your digital camera is doing is converting that color interpreted image into black and white via software–it does not extend the capabilities of the sensor.
A true black and white sensor allows you to get rid of the problematic pattern while also increasing sharpness and extending the dynamic range of the image. In order to get better contrast control while taking the image, you will need to use old fashioned B&W filters on the lens (e.g. yellow, green, and red) because the imaging sensor is no longer selectively recording the lightness and darkness of different color temperatures.
Phase One sold a digital back called the Apochromat or something like that. It was out of view and price range for most people.
jack
2 years ago |**Phase One sold a digital back called the Achromatic or something like that. It was out of view and price range for most people (i.e. like the cost of a new BMW 3 series).
preston
2 years ago |This is an insanely niche product, and personally I think you’d have to be kind of nuts (or filthy rich) to buy it. The resolution of a D800 is more than most people will ever need, so why switch to a crippled B&W sensor to get a little, or even a lot, more resolution? Even though most of my personal shooting is converted to B&W I would still need the ability to shoot in color if I wanted to. Also, people seem to have forgotten that capturing in color and then converting to B&W has some huge advantages over native B&W capture. The digital filter effects in Silver Efex Pro are amazing and wouldn’t be possible if the color information wasn’t there. Without this you would have to go back to the stone ages and use actual color filters on your lens to get the look you want – and you’re stuck with that single filter strength as well, unlike digital where you can adjust the strength to get it exactly to your liking.
Just to be clear, even if there was a camera available that had both a super high quality B&W sensor in it and a D800 sensor in it, I would almost never use the B&W sensor even when I had decided beforehand that it was going to end up as a B&W print!
monochrome
2 years ago |I can clearly state that it won’t be any of the sensors listed on the Kodak site. Looking at the diagonals, none of them fits the required diagonal of approx. 44 mm.