Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/03/29
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 02:06 PM 29-03-98 +0100, you wrote: >Erwin Puts wrote in >http://www.imx.nl/photosite/leica/r/designr8.html >(in dutch) that the R8 is the first example of a new trend in simplicity >(in contrast to Canon EOS, Nikon F5, Contax AX which represent the 'old >way' of increasing the number of functions). > >Erwin, I can't imagine how less could be more. A 97% viewfinder better >than a 100% viewfinder? Most people don't require 100% viewfinders, and in fact find them to be a nuisance when you are mounting slides and making standard prints where some cropping is mandatory. If it is mechanically much simpler to make a 97% viewfinder, then yesm it is better. A 2fps winder (and still no motor available) >better than a 8fps build-in motor? I would guess that about 99% of photographers do not need an 8fps motor drive. The few that do can go to specialized equipment makers like Nikon to get it. For others, a slower, lighter, simpler, and less expensive motor is preferable, though I agree that Leica should be getting their act together to provide a proper motor drive for the R8. >An 3D-RGB sensor less good than a 2D >Matrix meter? There is no evidence that Nikon's 3D-RGB results in better exposures than other simpler metering systems, at least none that have been presented in the common photography rags. In fact, as far as I'm concerned, there is no evidence that ANY of the fancy SLR metering systems out there can do a better job the the one in the M6, which is about a simple as one get get. So simpler IS better. >A self-adjusting shutter less good than a simpler version? Again, what is the point to a 'self-adjusting' shutter? Speaking to the pros on the LUG who shoot dozens or hundreds of rolls a week, how often do your shutter speeds go out of whack? I have shot perhaps a few thousand rolls of filem through all of my cameras in the last 10 years. Periodically, I go to camera clinics to have the shutter speeds measured. They are always within a few percent of the marked value. > >The truth is, it's not a trend (Leica is completely disable to create >one), it's Leica's inability to do better. [snip] Perhaps it is Leica's wish not to create a monster like the F5, but instead to create a camera that does what most photograhers need. IMHO Dan C.