[Leica] R8 thoughts

["GBicket" <GBicket@email.msn.com>]

R LUGgers,

Regarding rumours of the R8's premature death, I must respond that while I
once had troubles with mine, a trip to Leica USA resolved all problems.
After more about a year since its return, it has consistently performed
flawlessly, making the kinds of images I hoped for at purchase.  What
follows is not a defense of the R8, but rather a celebration of how
perfectly satisfying its use is to one amateur.

Like the M6 and its variants, the R8 is not for everyone, but it is for me a
great design achievement.  Ergonomically, and in its balance, it is a joy to
hold and use.  We all understand the wonderful glass it employs, but I must
say that using the camera, which ought to be at least one of the primary
measures of its merit, is a genuine pleasure.  When I get an image idea
bouncing around in my head, thoughts of how best to capture that image with
the R8 are not far behind.  It is extraordinarily easy to use, and as my
experience with it grows, I become less and less conscious of the camera,
and am able to focus more and more upon getting the image I seek onto the
film I am using.

As a devoted amateur, I do not debate the lack of utility of the R8 in the
professional's hands.  A motor drive is without question, a tool
professionals demand.  For my use, "professional" attributes to a camera
only apply in their implication of highest quality available.  Leica gives
me that.  Autofocus, or at a minimum, focus confirmation would be useful at
times for both professionals and amateurs.  And the absence of these in
Leica's decisionmaking process is problematic.  But Leica opted against AF
and they knew that the motor drive was not imminent at the launch of the R8,
and decided to proceed.  I use a winder, but more as an electric thumb than
as a rapid advance accessory.  And I do want a motor drive, but I often use
my camera without even the winder.

As someone serious about having fun with a quality camera and quality
lenses, the R8 meets my needs perfectly.  And I am often delighted with the
results I produce with it.  More than any other 35mm camera I have used,
with the R8, I capture the image I saw at the time I tripped the shutter and
exposed the film.  For me, that is a ~very~ big deal.  It is why I make
photographs.

I do not photograph racing sprinters, or speeding Formula 1 cars for a
living, and if I did, I probably would not use an R8 for that work.  But I
do feel less creative, and more lucky when I see "what comes back from
processing" with cameras widely thought to be more current in terms of
photographic technology.  Perhaps Leica overestimated the niche I'm in, but
they weren't naive about the R8 as a versatile professional's camera, and
they opted to address AF in the future.  Just like the M6, they made design
decisions about a camera for specific user types.  I think my R8 and its R
lenses are terrific for the uses to which I put it, and I enjoy using it a
great deal.

Enjoy the light!


Greg Bicket