[Leica] R8 Woes. The puzzle is about finished,

[Jim Brick <jimbrick@photoaccess.com>]

but the dog ate some of the pieces. This is when you utter a four letter word.

I sure like my R7's, winders, and drives. They sure do work perfectly.
Really nice SLR cameras. As was my R6 and R4sP's.

I just could not fathom that bass-ackwards Nikon stuff. I'm surprised they
don't have the shutter release on the left side. We have a Canon EOS 1n
here in the lab and I find it awkward and cheap feeling. I'm a Leica kinda guy.

I think Leica should bite the bullet and declare war on the R8 "system".
This recall/patch business (basically let the consumer debug the camera)
does absolutely nothing buy drive their reputation to new lows. What the
hell are they thinking??? That it'll just go away and everything will be
fine and dandy??? BS! Wake the hell up!!!

If someone asked you what you think about the competency of Leica AG to
produce a state of the art SLR camera, what would you reply?

We all know they can do it. So why haven't they??? I have the highest
regard for Leica engineering. So it must be someone else's fault...?

I'm sure happy that the R7's and system are such solid workhorses. I've
been taking photographs with R cameras since 1976. Thousands and thousands
of rolls, always with winders, and NEVER a single hiccup. They have all
worked flawlessly. As has my M6. But it's not even a year old yet.

We all know that the R4sP, R5, R6, R7, and all M cameras are solid designs,
and work hard producing images for the photographer's vision. And really
are dependable, through thick and thin, heat and cold, Death Valley to
Everest. So I'll keep my tried and true dependable workhorses.

Anybody today, thinking about buying an R8, either thinks they are
extremely lucky, or really doesn't need the camera. It and/or the winder
may spend more time in FedEx's hands than in the photographers hands.

Too bad about the R8! It could be a dynamite camera. I'll wait for the R8sP
announcement.

Jim

At 07:00 PM 2/8/99 -0600, Walt wrote:
>Thank God for Nikon slrs.....
>
>On Mon, 8 Feb 1999, David Strang wrote:
>
>> Well, things are looking a little better. I called Jim Kuehl this morning
>> and he promised to send out a new winder out of the latest batch of winders.
>> I should see it sometime Wednesday. Ernie at Leica wanted me to send in both
>> the camera and winder, but with at least a three week turn around, I'll have
>> to try the second winder first. If it fails, everything goes to Leica. Ernie
>> did mention a problem in the winder with a switch that doesn't make proper
>> contact.
>> 
>> Sure sounds like my problem, the camera will not "come alive" until the
>> filmback is opened! It then works fine until I turn the camera OFF. It
>> autoloads fine, advances fine, and rewinds fine. I just can't turn the
>> camera OFF with film in the camera.
>> 
>> I must say this: the motor winder fits extremely well onto the R8 body. It
>> adds a little more ergonomic feel to an already superb design. The added
>> weight is almost minimal. My Canon F-1n and EOS-1 systems grow markedly with
>> the added motor/battery packs. But they also greatly extend the usability of
>> the respective camera.
>> 
>> BTW, hats off the Jim Kuehl on some mighty good service!
>> 
>> Dave
>> dstrang@up.net
>> 
>