While looking at cameras on
the web, I came across a blatantly false claim by Sony. They wrote about the Sony Alpha SLT cameras:
"This changes
everything.
Shoot with unprecedented
speed and precision thanks to Sony's revolutionary Translucent Mirror
Technology™. While traditional DSLRs depend on a reflex mirror to flip up and
down with every shot, Sony's award-winning technology changes all that with its
fixed-position, translucent mirror design…"
The Sony SLT mirror
That statement is definitely
false. The first camera incorporating
such a design was the Canon Pellix. The
Pellix was first marketed in 1965. It was Canon's first 35mm Focal-Plane
Shutter SLR Camera with TTL metering. It
was also the first commercial production SLR that incorporated a fixed pellicle
mirror. It employed a super-thin, semi-transparent film only 20/1000 mm thick
that was used as a fixed mirror.
The Leica connection to all
of this is the fact that the Leica Visofelx III was also available with a
pellicle mirror. This was a special
modification by Norman Goldberg. Goldberg
is perhaps best known, in the Leica world, as the creator of the Camcraft N-5
electric motor drive for the Leica M2 and MP. However, also to his credit were
several other inventions for Leicas and other cameras. The clip he designed to
permit wearing an M Leica on the belt was widely used. He also offered a modification of the Visoflex
reflex housing, involving either a beam splitter or a pellicle mirror. These
too preceded Sony for a long time.
Leica camera with pellicle
mirror Visoflex and Camcraft N-5 electric motor.
Please note the missing
release lever and mirror action adjustment knob on the right side of the
Visoflex
Pellicle mirrors never
reached any nominal success; the main reason being that part of the incoming
light is permanently diverted to the viewfinder, or in the Sony SLT cameras
where part of the light is reflected to the phase detection autofocus
system. This effectively lowers the
speed of the lens in use. In addition,
these mirrors are quite delicate and very difficult to clean. Cleaning, on the other hand, is important
because any dust, smudges or other dirt would adversely affect image quality
since the mirror is in the light path from the lens to the film or sensor.
In view of this it seems
strange that Sony would even market a camera of this type and it is equally
strange that they have to accompany it with obviously false claims.
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ReplyDeleteSo what? Are you saying that Leica has been entirely blameless and never overstated its technological advances throughout history? I am certain that for any company with a PR team this is almost impossible to believe.
ReplyDeleteName just one incident where that is the case, otherwise you statement is just an opinion.
DeleteThe M8.
DeleteWhat about the M8 was overstated? There certainly were no outwardly false claims by Leica.
DeleteI don't remember them at launch saying it wasn't fully functional without an additional filter and I can't believe a company like Leica wasn't aware of an issue that was quickly picked up by reviewers. Therefore, I'd submit that Leica overstated the M8's capabilities. I love your site, by the way. I'm not into digital but love my M2, Summicron and Summaron and my V35 and 1C enlargers. Great gear and a great company.
DeleteYou are making a valid point. Leica should have taken care of that problem from the very beginning. However, I cannot equate that with an outright false statement like the one by Sony that heralds themselves as big innovators in view of the fact that the very technology had been used about 40 years earlier by Canon and Leica. As for the M8 problem, I use an M8 regularly and have found that problem to be much less annoying than it is generally made out to be.
DeleteI also want to thank you for your kind comments regarding This blog and Leica in general.
Les Wilcockson wrote: Isn't Sony referring to DSLR's?
ReplyDeleteNo. They clearly state "Shoot with unprecedented speed and precision thanks to Sony's revolutionary Translucent Mirror Technology™. While traditional DSLRs depend on a reflex mirror to flip up and down with every shot, Sony's award-winning technology changes all that with its fixed-position, translucent mirror design…" Of course their camera is a SLR as well, but they clearly point the difference to a "traditional DSLR".
Delete