Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/11/18
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 08:22 AM 11/18/97 -0600, you wrote: >Marc has pointed out to me that this was discussed weeks ago, but I just >got the magazine in the mail last week. He also pointed out that Eric is >listed in the credits at the end of the article. That would be me. I'm working on their F5 review. Actually, my F5 is up for sale, so I guess I'd better get it done! :-) So, now that I've had the R8 for almost a week, my impression is that it's a wonderful camera. It's a bit hard getting used to its unusual looks, but no problem at all getting used to how it feels in the hand. Or how its meter is deadly accurate. Or how smooth and well-built it feels. Or the bright viewfinder. I could go on. This is one superb camera. And my 180 Elmarit? It's good to have an old friend back. Used one from '84 through '95. And having the Leica ability to reproduce wonderful saturated photos in really poor lighting conditions is something I didn't realize how much I missed until now. It's not just saturation, though, it's an ability to give good tonal separation in mid-tones. Shadow detail is better than either Nikon or Canons fast tele zooms can do by a long shot, and they're great lenses. Looking forward to getting my 90 Summicron R any day now, and I've also decided not to get the 21mm Elmarit ASPH M and get the 19mm 2.8 Elmarit R instead. I just think an SLR is more capable of controlling converging lines than an M camera. But if it wasn't for the R8, I wouldn't have decided that it was worth it. Not to mention the new 19 Elmarit is one of the best wide angle lenses made (not just ultra-wide, wide). I'm still going to get a 75 Summilux M, and then maybe a Noctilux some day. But for more extreme stuff, I'm going to go all R again. There is no question in my mind the R8 is every bit the equal of the M6 when it comes to quality, smoothness and pleasurable usage. :-) ========== Eric Welch St. Joseph, MO http://www.ponyexpress.net/~ewelch Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.