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Make sure you read and vote on Part 1 of the Great Debate: CCD vs. CMOS before venturing on to this test.

In the first installment, I published various sets of images, each containing one shot from the Leica M9 and one from the Leica M (Typ 240). The premise was to see if I could use basic post-processing techniques in Lightroom to make an image captured with a CMOS sensor (M240) match one taken with a CCD (M9). Many have stated that there is a defining “CCD Look” and that it was impossible to achieve this with a CMOS sensor, even with processing. So, I put it up for a vote.

So far, as of this writing, the results have been very interesting. Counting statistical margin of error, almost all of the images are running at a 50/50 ratio or very close to it. Of course, the images I first posted were taken in conditions favoring the M9: natural, directional light at lower ISOs. I didn't want the comparisons to be about dynamic range or low noise or artificial light performance. This was just an exercise to see if there was indeed a “CCD Look” and if such a look was only inherent in CCD-based cameras. Some have requested that I publish images under more challenging lighting conditions and with skin tones.

In this second (and final) round of testing, I'm putting forth a selection of single images shot with the M9 and M240. The test this time is to see if, without a direct comparison, the “CCD Look” can be identified. Please note that I didn't take comparison shots for any of these images. I shot normally, just with two bodies.  And, I didn't attempt to match to a particular look. Instead, I merely processed each file to my taste.

Without further ado, please cast your votes below. Yes, I know that there are a lot of images. I wanted to give a wide variety of scenarios to gather the most accurate data possible. Answers for both Part 1 and Part 2 will be revealed, along with my analysis, in Part 3.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Update (3/9/15): Part 3 is now online. Check out the answers and my analysis.