[Leica] state-of-the-art

[Doug Herr <71247.3542@compuserve.com>]

John wrote:

>The old way IS an old way, but it is time tested and damn good for many =

>photographic applications.  Sports, power boats, and birds in flight are=
 =

>another story maybe, but for many applications, the manual approach can =

>really work.

I haven't dome much with sports or power boats but I've photographed bird=
s =

in flight on many occasions and the "new way" will work for the slower, =

more predictable birds such as herons and hawks but I've found that for =

flight shots of swallows (U.K.: martins) and swifts I have enough trouble=
 =

keeping the bird in the field of view it seems unlikely that an AF sensor=
 =

could be kept on the critter.  The 400 f/6.8 Telyt has been quite =

successful for me.  Needless to say, the Telyt has also worked quite well=
 =

for the slower birds.


Ben wrote:

>And for all those all-manual, the-photographer-can-do-it-perfect
>fanatics - how can you be pleased when you can't set aperture and
>shutter in 1/3 increments with a 6 stop scale in the viewfinder like the=

>"overly featured" opposition?

I'm quite pleased with my 30-year-old Leicaflex SL's viewfinder which has=

a continuous analog shutter speed scale in the viewfinder, and a =

continuously-variable mechanical shutter to go with it.  The scale doesn'=
t
show me *exactly* what the shutter speed is but all I need is a general =

indication of "hand-holdable", "brace yourself" or "good luck".  The =

analog scale gives me that information with my peripheral vision while I =

concentrate on composition and subject activity.


John McLeod wrote:
 =

=2E..If state of the art means fast auto-focus, motor drives, and matrix
metering, then, sure, Nikon and Canon are the leaders...I am convinced
that these technologies cause us to photograph differently, and not
necessarily better, except for a select set of conditions when speed and
auto-calculation are everything.  For many photographers, these state of
the art capabilities can be detrimental to their photography....

There's nothing I can add to that - John's said it all.