Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/01/28

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Chance from R to Nikon?
From: Larry Kopitnik <kopitnil@mra-inc.com>
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 1998 11:45:03 -0600

> Please, one more time, why is the Leica R superior to other SLR
> cameras?   Dale

This answer from someone who, at the moment, shoots with Nikon:

The glass. That's what makes Leica R better.

The R bodies themselves are as good as, but not necessarily better than,
some of what other manufacturers offer. Personally, the R8 feels
uncomfortably chunky and awkward in my hands (I've considered it
seriously). But for those whose hands it does fit well it is unquestionably
as fine a photographic machine as any out there.

And other manufacturers offer some fine glass in their line. I've been
floored by some of the photos I've gotten from Nikon's AF 85 f/1.4, for
instance.

But none offer as consistently uncompromised, outstanding glass up and down
the line as Leica (and probably Zeiss for Contax). Most Nikkors on my FM2
or F4 can produce good shots and a few are capable of unsurpassed shots.
But nearly any current Leica lens on an R is capable of producing
unsurpassed photos.

That's what makes the R system better. The glass.

Larry