Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/08/06

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Subject: [Leica] Re: M7 vs M3 "lag time"
From: JCB <jcb@visualimpressions.com>
Date: Wed, 06 Aug 2003 21:58:13 -0700
References: <003601c35c16$673ea320$87d86c18@gv.shawcable.net>

Every piece of equipment on earth, has leads, lags, and quirks of all 
sorts. Turning the helm of a huge ship. Ted and I would run it through 
whatever is in front of it. The professional helmsman knows instinctively 
how to maneuver the ship. He/she can instinctively anticipate the huge lag 
in response and pull the supertanker right up to the buoyed spigot.

A person like Ted, who has been in the professional business of taking 
photos for decades, knows how to take photographs of whatever the 
assignment is, from years of experience with a multitude of equipment. I 
have Ted's books and I have seen a lot of his work. Missing the decisive 
moment due to shutter lag is simply not possible. Ted instinctively knows 
his equipment and his brain/motor hand/eye coordination simply takes over 
without conscious thought of, "oh, let's see now, should I push the release 
now, uh, oh, wait a second, uh, click" As a matter of fact, ANY 
professional in any business has their brain/motor/hand/eye coordination 
running on autopilot. Concert pianist, race car driver, machinist, 
photographer, whatever you can think up, all know their craft cold. So in 
the case of a professional photographer, shutter lag differences between 
say, an M7 and an R8 are not ever a conscious thought. You just pick it up 
and go to work!

Only an amateur would even think that the subject has merit. Unless the 
subject is digital! You push the shutter of a multi-frame-per-second 
digital camera way before something _might_ happen, then hope to hell that 
one of the frames caught the decisive moment. If there was a decisive 
moment. What an ugly way to do business!

JB


At 06:43 PM 8/6/2003 -0700, Mike Quinn wrote:
>Ted,
>
>Yes, it makes a difference.
>It would make a difference to you if you ever wondered about why you
>sometimes failed to capture that winning moment. Selective forgetting is
>another great photographic accessory. The saving grace is that we are judged
>by the ones we catch, rather than the ones that got away.
>
>The way of ignorance need not be justified.
>One can close one's mind and still do great things.
>Perhaps others should close their minds too.
>I'm glad that some are searching for another path.
>
>Mike Quinn
>
>Ted Grant wrote:
>
> > So reading about it and obviously it appears it's a big deal for some 
> folks,
> > I just can't fathom what the heck the big deal is knowing it.
> >
> > I understand what Doug Herr said when he explained about the effect of LAG
> > in the type of photography he's a master at. But if one never knew that
> > "release lag existed" and still captured award winning moments does it make
> > any difference knowing it or not knowing it?
>
>--
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In reply to: Message from Ted Grant <tedgrant@shaw.ca> (Re: [Leica] M7 vs M3 "lag time" -- How can we find out somerealnumbers?)