Re: [Leica] On Topic, my PAW

[Ray Moth <ray_moth@yahoo.com>]

Jim Hemenway wrote: 

I shot this recently with my R8 and 60mm macro with Ektachrome...
whaddaya think?  Getting this camera to take good exposures has been a
real trial.

http://www.hemenway.com/day-lily-R8-60mm-Ekta.jpg

Jim
======================================================================
Good one, Jim! Exposure looks spot-on to me and I think your
composition is great. 

When you say you have problems getting the R8 to take good exposures,
do you mean in general, i.e. with any lens, with each of the metering
methods and with each operating mode? If so, then you may have the
problem that I have with my R8, namely, aperture control ring sticking
and preventing the lens from closing down reliably to the selected
aperture when taking the shot. This is apparently a fairly common
problem with R8s (but by no means universal). It can cause random
exposure (and DoF) errors because the lens is not doing what the camera
expects it to do; the only time you're safe is if the lens is always
set to its widest aperture. 

To see if your R8 has this problem, set it to manual mode and select a
small aperture on the lens, then watch the lens close down as you press
the shutter release. (If there's a film in the camera, set it to
multiple exposures for this test, so you only waste one frame!)
Selecting a fairly low shutter speed, e.g. 1/2 sec, makes it easier to
observe.

You should see the lens diaphragm closing down to the aperture you
selected every time you fire the shutter. If it does not behave
properly, you need to ensure that the problem is not simply due to a
weak lens spring by testing with several different lenses.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

=====
Ray

"The trouble with resisting temptation is
 you never know when you'll get another chance!"

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