Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/03/26

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Subject: RE: [Leica] Re: Leica & Contax test
From: Eric Welch <ewelch@ponyexpress.net>
Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1999 22:31:41 -0600

At 12:38 PM 3/26/99 -0800, you wrote:
>If I were to use your definition couldn't we say that that the R8 is a P&S
>sans AF?  More so for the monster Nikon F5, the ultimate P&S.  In the end,
>if a camera works for the you than its the right tool even if its not
>something someone else likes.

Point and shoot isn't really a bad term in my book. But the viewfinder is 
terrible. I find it has more in common with "regular" point and shoot 
cameras in that it's like a little periscope rather than a real camera's 
viewfinder. If I pay that much for a camera, I expect a viewfinder that 
doesn't strain my eyes.

Second, the lenses are slow. Not a 1.4 in the bunch. There's no direct way 
to manually focus either.

And what really puts it in the nearly point and shoot category is that 
that's where it's being marketed. Somewhere between point and shoots (very 
high end point and shoots mind you) and regular cameras (Leica M and all 
the SLR lines). Not a bad thing. It's a market that needs to be filled, and 
in fact this camera actually created it.

And yes, you are right. The F5 could be labeled the ultimate point and 
shoot, but it's so much more, because of what it offers in terms of fast 
framing rate, extremely accurate meter, and adaptability for whatever 
situations a photographer might face. (Except of course, small, quiet Leica 
M situations).

The R8 a point and shoot? I don't think so. No more than any other non-af 
camera. You can't point and shoot that camera.

Eric Welch
St. Joseph, MO
http://www.ponyexpress.net/~ewelch

Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.