Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2012/07/14

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Subject: [Leica] Was WTB: Nikon AR-1 soft release now finders
From: benedenia at gmail.com (Marty Deveney)
Date: Sun, 15 Jul 2012 10:32:04 +0930
References: <CABmfTOW_0qu50nvgJYFwuHDQ45Ue=b-GOfTCAbMWFm8Xyj_vrw@mail.gmail.com> <5219D20B-2050-4084-A982-0E4A3DE9B6C0@usjet.net>

Sure, I was only commenting on using modern AF SLRs for manual focus
work, not on your observations, which are entirely valid.

Your F2/3 cameras are ~30-40+ year old technology and screens do
deteriorate with time.

Marty

On Sun, Jul 15, 2012 at 10:17 AM, Robert Meier <robertmeier at usjet.net> 
wrote:
> Marty,
>
> All of what you said about modern AF Nikons and Canons may well be true, 
> but I was comparing my R8 to a Nikon F2a and an F3, both, of course, 
> manual focus cameras.
>
> Robert
>
> On Jul 14, 2012, at 7:31 PM, Marty Deveney wrote:
>
>> You need to remember what they're _for_.
>>
>>> It's really depressing that N and C have such poor finders.
>>
>> To be fair to Canon and Nikon, modern SLRs have very good finders for
>> autofocus with lenses of moderate aperture, which is what they're
>> designed for, but when you depart from that, it's like trying to take
>> a sports car onto a beach.
>>
>>> I wanted to shoot the 12.5 Photar on the full frame 5D
>>> but with the extreme bellows factor
>>> I literally can hardly see through the view finder
>>> even at f:1.9
>>> The R8 is clear even fully stopped down.
>>
>> The real difference with the R8 is that you are looking at a ground
>> glass focusing screen. As far as I can tell ALL modern AF SLRs use a
>> focusing screen that is an engineered light pipe with microlenses on
>> each surface, not ground glass. They only accept light from a narrow
>> field of view, and in effect each microlens has its own aperture.
>> They are much more efficient transmitters within their design spec,
>> which is why the view looks so bright in the store with that f2.8 or
>> f4-5.6 zoom, but are not so impressive with an f1.4 lens.  These are
>> very good if you're using an autofocus system, but much less good if
>> you're using an eye.
>>
>> The problem lies in the comparison - a lot of us have transitioned
>> from manual focus cameras to dSLRs and have brought lenses and other
>> equipment along for the ride.  In a way it's better (including for the
>> manufacturers!) to just start from scratch.
>>
>> Marty
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Leica Users Group.
>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information


Replies: Reply from curtisbliss at yahoo.com (CB) ([Leica] Was WTB: Nikon AR-1 soft release now finders)
In reply to: Message from benedenia at gmail.com (Marty Deveney) ([Leica] Was WTB: Nikon AR-1 soft release now finders)
Message from robertmeier at usjet.net (Robert Meier) ([Leica] Was WTB: Nikon AR-1 soft release now finders)