Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/05/20
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 17:16 +0100 17-05-1997, Erwin Puts wrote: >The R8 manual says that the electrical contacts on lenses transmit >>lens data (such as the type of lens) and are used for an electronic >>exposure control in addition of the normal mechanic exposure control. >> >>In short, do I miss something if I don't use lenses with electrical >>contacts on the Leica R8? >> >Yes, you are missing something. All ROM equipped Leica lenses are >measured for light fall off in the corners at a number of diaphragm >settings including the effects of the diaphragm itself. The values are >put on the ROM and are used by the exposure meter to compensate for false >measurements in the corners. >Erwin Puts Today I had an interesting conversation over the phone with a Leica technician at the official distributor of Leica equipment in Belgium. He was very affirmative that the electrical lens contacts are only needed on the R8 for the automatic adjustment of the zoom reflector on compatible flashlights (such as specific Metz types). There would be no other advantage on the R8. Of course, this situation will change in the future as new R camera designs will take more advantage of these contacts (AF ??). I am a bit confused to be honest, so I also sent an e-mail to Leica Camera's information service (which will answer all technical questions, but only in German). I will let the list know the answer when I get one. There is no need to do so, but if you want Leica will convert "old" lenses for you and equip them with a ROM. You have to send in your lens to the Belgian distributor who will then send them back to Solms in Germany for the necessary work. Estimated cost: around 3000 BEF (90 USD). Delay: 3 weeks. Contrary to some posting on this list, there is no shortage of these ROM contacts in Solms, so there should not be additional delay. The situation is different for R8 body production: the factory in Solms can only produce 80 of them per day, this explains the long waiting lists to obtain a camera. As for winder and motordrive: the winder will now only be available by the end of this year, the motordrive in spring 98! We will just have to be patient. Greetings, Pascal Belgium - ------------------------------------------ This message was created and sent on a Macintosh PowerBook - ------------------------------------------