Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/07/17
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]LUGS, Well the new black R8 finally wended its way to my home, by way of a detour due to an incorrect zip code. Hey, I like itl My hands are average and its fits like a glove. So far I have been only fiddling with it and the controls. Did put on the strap and the batteries in. The viewfinder is bright, but with the 24/2.8 R it is much harder to focus in dim light than the M6. However, with the greater DOF of the 24, it may not matter so much. Wow, what a shutter. From the standpoint of quietness and vibration, it is the best shutter I have seen on a camera. I wish I had an R8 when I was into astrophotography. One thing that facinates me is the way the mirror lock up works. Move the lever on the left front to the lockup position. Point the camera at the scene and push the shutter release button. The camera takes an exposure reading and stores it and the mirror then pops up. The exposure is not taken until you push the shutter release button again. Apparantly, the mirror will stay up and the exposure is stored up to two minutes. I set the time on 1 or 2 sec and popped up the mirror and then released the shutter. You hardly hear or feel anything. I couldn't believe it. Quieter and less vibration than any SLR I have ever used, and this includes all the Nikon F's except the F5, and all the Leica Rs. I'm thinking about taking pictures hand held in available darkness. Focus, popup the mirror, hold the camera in the same position and push again. I'm going to try this with the R8 and also my M6 and see howthey compare. With the R7 I never could hand hold it as well as the M6. Thank you Ted for pulling me kicking and screaming into the R8 club! By golly you do know something, you old coot! Richard Hemingway Norman, OK