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LFI DMR /2006
TECHNOLOGY
R LENSES IN DIGITAL OPERATION
FACTOR 1.37
One of the key arguments in favour of the Digital-Modul-R is that you
can benefit from the potential of R lenses – ranging from 15 to 800 millimetre
focal lengths – both in analogue and digital use. 35-mm photographers
will simply have to befriend themselves with a slightly altered perspective.
Modul-R would appear to be a logical
next move, if an entry into high-end
digital photography is on the cards.
Those to whom the Digital-Modul-R
marks the occasion to enter into the
Leica R system not only have the
prospect of an unrivalled camera concept
with outstanding ergonomics, technology
and handling, but also – and above all –
one of the best optical systems in the
world for 35-mm photography.
KEYWORD: 35-MM FORMAT
Leica, of all brands, as the pioneer of
35-mm photography, is now, with the
digitalisation of the R system, being
unfaithful toward this format. At least
this is what critics never cease to slate.
For reasons mentioned on page 6, the
sensor is slightly smaller than 35 mm
film – while the latter has a diagonal
of 43.3 millimetres, the sensor of the
Digital-Modul-R has a 31.7-mm diagonal;
and when one alters the format of the
exposure medium, the behaviour of the
lenses changes accordingly. Those who
as 35-mm photographers occasionally
stray into medium format will know how
confusing the whole thing can be. A lens
that was built for the image circle of a
6-by-7 system has, with a 100-mm focal
length, a view angle of approximately
48 degrees, which more or less equals a
50 mm lens in 35-mm lingo. Yet the
reorientation with the Digital-Modul-R
is not so severe. One can even claim that
the related crop factor is fairly moderate,
resulting from the division of the
Super-Elmarit-R 15 mm f/2.8 Asph: expensive
luxury for friends of extreme perspectives
Vario-Elmar-R 21–35 mm f/3.5–4 Asph:
compact and better than the fixed focal lengths
Maximum system compatibility has
always been a founding virtue of Leica –
to this day, owners of an R3 can still use
Leica’s most recent R lenses, and an
R8 or R9 remains companionable with
almost all lenses throughout the past
40 years of Leica’s SLR history. Even the
ones featuring the Leicaflex metering
cams can be reinforced with a ROM
module. Since photokina 1998, this is
what has been enabling today’s R lenses
to electronically transfer parameters,
such as aperture, focal length and
vignetting, to the camera.
Even during the inception of the
Digital-Modul-R concept, this general
idea played a central role. For Leica R
photographers who already own an R8
or R9 and an array of lenses, the Digital-
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