Re: Pretenders to the Throne

[TTAbrahams@aol.com]

 Why this debate over what is a Leica. The SLR's are Leica's and so are the
M's and the screwmounts. It is only a brandname and like most manufacturer
they made good and bad products. I have been using M's since the late 50's
and keep on using them because I like them and they meet my requirements.
Over the years using the camera becomes instinctive and quite often you shoot
something so quickly that you hardly realize that you shot until after the
shutter clicked. I prefer the M's for one feature in particular. It allows me
to see what is happening outside the field covered by the lens, at least with
the 35 and longer lenses. Stray hands and feet, as well as moving cars and
anything else can be spotted moving into the shot. The SLR's are different,
the focussing slightly less precise with wider lenses, the mirror shakes the
camera and there is a momentary black out when the mirror flips up. I still
prefer this still of body for makro and lenses over 90 mm focallength. It is
a tool and some tools are better than others and if it does the job well it
is a good tool!
 There is one feature that has been forgotten in this discussion. I have a
1931 Hektor 50/2,5 lens . It sits on a 1932 Leica II, but I can take it off
this camera and with a simple adapter mount it on my 1997 M6 and shoot with
it,it couples to the rangefinder and it meters with the cameras meter. There
are few products made today with a backwards compatibility of that magnitude.
Oh, the Leica II works fine too, its finder is a bit dim and the loading is a
hassle, but it still works and it is a truly pocketable camera with the lens
collapsed.
 Over the years I have shot with just about every brand of camera, from Minox
to Sinars but the one camera I keep around is the M. It works for me.
 The SLR's by Leica are just as much Leica as the M's, it is just that they
came to the design late and never really caught up. I still use L-flex SL's
for tele and makro work and I have tried the R3/R4/R5/R6/R7 and R8. I dont
need them for what I am shooting, but if I had too I would get one and if I
had to shoot sports I would get the F5 with all the latest lenses. But there
is no doubt that a Leicaflex SL or SL-2 is a Leica too and so is the R4 (
albeit not a very good one) and the rest of them.
 After all, the camera body is just a box to keep the film in. Some boxes are
better than others and some of them needs more batteries than others too!
 Tom A