Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/02/19
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Dear All, Thanks to those who responded to my post about moving from R7 to R6.2 or R8. I decided, after reading the many helpful responses I've received, to trade in my R7 for the new R8. I paid a differential of US$580. The new R8 seems fine and includes Leica's five-year warranty, plus a card that says the camera was inspected at several points during its manufacture. The camera caused some mirth among the shop's other customers when they found out that, despite its bulky shape, the R8 doesn't have a built-in motor. They couldn't understand why Leica would create such an unwieldy looking thing when it only has manual film advance. Of course, they were all Nikon and Canon users and their attitude changed when I showed them that I could lift the R8 with only one hand! ;-) The instructions I got with the camera are in German but I can buy a photocopy of the manual in English from a local source. The only thing I don't yet understand about the R8 is its matrix metering. The rest is pretty obvious. I can see what people mean when they say the R8's controls are ergonomically set out. The mirror lock-up is especially neat compared with the R7. The only 'silly' thing I've found with the R8 is that you can't see what 'ISO' you've set unless you change the setting, which causes the ISO number display to appear, then change it back again. I generaly use 'DX' anyway, so it doesn't matter. The ROM issue seems to be unimportant unless you use an auto-zoom flash, which I don't. Until I get the required SCA 3501 adapter, I'm using my Metz 32 Z-2 flashgun with the SCA 351 adapter I bought for the R7. It seems to work well enough, using the flashgun's auto mode (i.e. non-TTL operation). In reality, I find that TTL is only necessary if the flashgun is used off-camera. Even fill-flash is possible using the flashgun's auto-mode (just tell the flash you're using an aperture 2 stops wider than you actually are). The 1/250 sec. flash synch of the R8 is a real benefit for fill-flash. I might as well buy the 3501 adapter, though, so I can get the best of both worlds. Regards, ===== Ray "The trouble with resisting temptation is you never know when you'll get another chance!" __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35 a year! http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/