Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/05/12
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Simon Lamb wrote I agree that optically Leica lenses are outstanding (the best), but outstanding optics are useless if you want to photograph a Formula 1 car doing 180mph straight towards you. Horses for courses, and in the case of fast action photography Leica lenses could be second to some, where capturing the action is secondary to the optical quality. Don't get me wrong, I love the Leica and wouldn't swap it. Formula 1 was my business for 23 years. As a keen amateur I know all the top F1 photogs. Almost all drool over my M6, which is of course not ideal for anything but pit shots. Most feel Canon teles are better than Nikon and none of the good ones use the auto focus function on the circuit - just for snapshots in the pits (and then most of the really good ones use manual focus in the pits too). If anything has changed over the period I did F1 it is the demise of the hand held meter. Whilst most of the good guys don't use auto focus a lot they all use the in camera meter 95% of the time. In the old centre weighted days almost nobody did. FWIW only one guy uses Leica R (an Italian) and one Dutch guy does pit candids in B&W using the most battered M6s imaginable. cheers Frank