Originally posted by alohadave Leica uses a CCD sensor that allows for light to hit at more oblique angles that CMOS does. CMOS uses relatively deep wells, that the sensels sit at the bottom of. If you don't put a micro lens at the top of the wells, you lose any light that can't reach the bottom of the well.
Yes, but even with the CCD sensor they had to customize the sensor microlenses to get the performance they wanted.
From Leica M9 review at dpreview: "The Kodak-developed CCD sensor features improved offset microlenses to optimize performance at the edges of the frame along with a sensor cover with improved filtering of infrared light so lens-mounted IR filters are no longer needed."
From Leica's own site: "Or, in other words: in the case of the M9 and M9-P, it wasn't a matter of modifying the lenses to match the image sensor, but rather the other way around."
From Kodak's comments on their sensor: "Matching this larger image capture area with the rangefinder’s unique optical design required a redesign of both the sensor’s pixel and microlens configuration compared to the sensor used in the M8 camera, which Kodak was allegedly able to achieve without compromising on Leica’s stringent image quality requirements."
Maybe a CCD sensor doesn't require such fixing on an SLR though, as Anvh mentioned. Are there any large sensor cameras that implement LiveView using a CCD sensor?