[Leica] R8 For Dummies, II

["Barney Quinn, Jr." <barney@ncep.noaa.gov>]

Today's story is about how a CAnon F1N brought me a step closer to
owning an R8......

It helps to have goals in life. That's why I give myself some kind of
photographic project each year. It's a PAW kind of  thing. It happens
that "Crocodile Dundee" is one of my all time favorite movies. I've seen
it a million times. I was watching it about a year ago. Rather than
paying attention to the heroine's body this time I noticed her Canon F1.
(Gee guys, am I that old and far gone? Must have been a senior moment of
the worst sort. :-) )I've always read that this was a super camera.

It happens that a few days later I was in one of our local camera
stores. (Not Penn Camera, which has excellent customer service.) They
had a mint F1N with a motor drive and some lenses. I some kind of fit of
"monkey-see-monkey-do" no doubt inspired by my recent viewing of
"Crocodile Dundee" I traded my EOS1 and lenses for the F1N. I decided
that I would make my project for the year shooting with this classic
camera to explore what it was all about. Looking back on this trade I
have to say that I don't have a clue of what was going on in my mind.
The EOS1 is a wonderful camera, even if it is a tad short of features by
today's standards. The only good thing I can say about this move on my
part is that it finally did lead me to an R8.

This particular Canon was truly the Potemkin Village of  F1N's. It
looked great on the outside, but was actually a real mess inside. It
failed in a matter of days. It had to go in for a CLA. When it came back
it still wasn't right. It would suddenly just lock up. So, back to the
shop. When I got it back the second time it worked well enough for me to
give it a good test. That was when I discovered that the meter wasn't
calibrated properly. I had a lot of trouble with this particular body,
which surprised me because they sure feel as if they are built like a
fine firearm. Just the sort of feel a Leica person would find appealing.

Some of the trouble I had was clearly operator error. It was an old
camera, and I didn't have a manual. One thing I learned the hard way,
and looking back I think that this was the source of one of the trips to
the repair depot, was that if you don't switch off both the camera and
the motor drive you drain the battery in the camera body and it stops
working. I thought that it was like an F3.

What, you ask, does this have to do with the LUG, and how did it lead me
to get an R8. Here's one thing I learned. No person is an island.
Creativity doesn't happen is isolation. The notion a lone creative
genius wondering the world with a camera, a pen, or a guitar, is, to me,
a pretty much a myth. We're herd animals and we need support. Part of
the reason my F1 project went the way it did was that I didn't have a
support system. This brings me to the LUG.

One reason why I love the LUG is that it's members have, collectively,
an enormous depth and width of photographic knowledge which far
transcends facts about Leicas. If you have a question one of us probably
has the answer. What I should have done when I first started having
trouble was to get on the LUG and to have said, "This is what I am
doing. This is what happened. Can anyone help?" Someone would have
probably honked at me for asking an off-topic question. But, someone
else would have answered it. Perhaps an interesting thread would
develop, which in turn would have degenerated into something truly off
the wall. One of the things I love the most about the LUG is watching
threads transform and evolve. I know that it sometimes irritates other
people, but I just love it.

So, one reason I own an R8 is the LUG. Sooner ot later I am going to
need help with fill flash. When I do I am going to post my questions.
Someone will answer them for me. If I need help I can get it. The LUG is
a valuable resource. Sometimes when I read nasty posts it makes me quite
sad, and makes me want to say that there're are days when people who
post took better care of this treasure. Alas. Perhaps that's just life
on the net. Posts on the LUG are also one of the reasons why I almost
didn't buy an R8. But, that's a talk for another time.

I also learned a lesson about used equipment, support and warrantees.
We've talked a lot about this lately. Here's my $.02 on the subject. My
kid brother says of his wealthy noveau riche father in law that he's the
"Why spend less type?" That's not me. But, you also do get what you pay
for. I've bought a lot of used equipment, and I haven't always had good
luck. If you go used or gray market and you win then you win big. If you
loose it really helps to have decent and honorable people standing in
back of you. It's you're call. The F1N thing ended up costing me a
packet.

Barney