Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/02/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]On 21-02-1998 09:54 Alfred Breull wrote: >Unfortunately, I'm a little arrogant - any camera with an >electronic shutter is an automatic to/for me. > >They say "bye bye, picture", when the battery is down. > >That's one of the reasons, I'd always select an SL, SL2 or R 6.2 >instead of an auto-xx, if I'd buy an SLR Leica. It seems this debate of all mechanical vs. electronic keeps popping up periodically! Can we not just put this issue to rest? Let's face it: batteries have become an integral part of any modern SLR camera, whether we like it or not. And even the light meter in the Leica R6.2, M6 or Nikon FM depends on it. And without an extra lightmeter (also operating on batteries) exposures with a mechanical camera would be a wild guess. It might work, but mostly not, especially if using slide film. The only practical solution is to bring an additional set of batteries at all times. And these are not that heavy :-) Mind you, I am not saying that mechanical reflex cameras do not have any special attraction: there is something special to it, and they might be considered a better option in extreme environments. But then again, a top electronic camera like the Leica R8 or Nikon F5 will probably be as safe a bet. Times when this was different, are longtime gone. What you could say, however, is that mechanical cameras obviously use less energy, and thus are less expensive in the long run. On the other hand, considering that the currently sold mechanical bodies cost more than your average electronic camera of the same brand, you will probably not live long enough to see the price difference between the camera models being eroded by the difference in cost of batteries :-) And the ultimate argument is, of course, that cameras like the R8 offer more "bang for the buck" than the R6.2, at about the same price level. Nothing prohibits an R8 user from using the camera as a fully manual camera. It will be just as good as the R6.2, and even better in some respects. Plus you have access to all advanced features you don't have on the R6.2. No, I can understand this debate (I once also had the same arguments, in my former Nikon FM life...), but I fear this really is becoming more and more a rear-guard action. At the risk of starting a heated debate... :-) Pascal - -------------------------------------------------------- t h i n k d i f f e r e n t a p p l e - -------------------------------------------------------- <<< PGP public key available on request >>>