Re: Leica vs. SLR's

[sachse@msc.cornell.edu]

	Hi Group -

	I responded to the question of Leica vs. SLR's and
	Gang suggested I post it to the group. So here it is:

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Forwarded message:
> From sachse Fri Jul 28 22:08:45 1995
> Subject: Re: Fwd: LEICA CAMERAS
<snip>...

Original question:

> > >Does anyone have an opinion of buying a Leica M6 vs Nikon SLR such as
> > >FM2n?  Thinking of optics, durability, reliability, quality of photos
> > >taken, etc.  Thanks.>

Gang's Response:

> > None of the above is significant enough to be the basis of choosing one over
> > the other. It really depends on what type of photography you intend to do.


My Additional Response:

> 	Hi -
> 
> 	Perfect answer.
> 
> 	I faced the same question as that asked originally. I
> 	ended up buying both M6 and N90s.
> 
> 	In my case, I knew of the following features related to
> 	each system:
> 
> 		M6			    SLR System (Nikon N90s)
> 	^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^	^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> 
> 	Permit quiet, unobtrusive	KLUNK...whirr
> 	picture taking.
> 
> 	Pictures incredibly sharp	Picture quality depends
> 	excellent contrast		on lens. Some lenses superb.
> 	Lenses feel nice to operate	as good as Leica's. Others OK.
> 
> 	Very limited lens selection	Incredible range of lenses
> 	No zooms.			to choose from. Ultra-wide angle
> 	21mm-135mm that's it,		to ultra_telephoto. PC-control
> 	but the most important		Macro; Micro; Slide copy...
> 	focal lengths are there
> 
> 	Viewfinder for people with	N90s viewfinder superb even for
> 	glasses is LOUSY (rotten)	people with glasses
> 
> 	Focusing easy, sharp		Autofocus quite good, smart,
> 	but you've got to do		fast. But sometimes not critically
> 	everything - fast		focused.
> 
> 	Requires lots of practice	Autofocus/Auto-exposure is
> 	or pre-setting camera to	is incredibly good and fast.
> 	capture "the moment"
> 
> 	Price outrageous (3*SLR)	Price not too bad (=Leica/3)
> 
> 	Resale value usually high	Resale value so-so
> 
> 	Metal construction		Lots of plastic
> 
> 	Exposures > 1 sec requires	long exposures, no problem
> 	cable release
> 
> 	Use of filters difficult	Use of filters a snap
> 					(Exposure compensated, etc.)
> 
> 	Leica has a nice feel to it	Nikon also feels nice
> 
> 	^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> 	There's probably more, but the above list is what I've found
> 	over the past month or so.
> 
> 	The nice thing about my Nikon is that I am using lenses that
> 	I bought 25-30 years ago (in aperture priority mode) and
> 	they work just as well and are just as sharp as then
> 	(viz. the 105/f2.5 short tele is as nice as I remember it)

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	'Hope you find it useful.

	-- W. Sachse

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