Re: [Leica] Leica R or Leica M

["Gary Todoroff" <datamaster@humboldt1.com>]

> From: Jim Brick 7:17 PM
> 
> I don't wish to start a war, this is simply my educated and experienced
> Humble Opinion. I use a 4x5 Linhof Field View for the majority of my
> landscapes, My R camera for the rest.

Hi Jim, 

Nice to hear that I am in good company. I just got a Graflex Super Graphic
with a Rodenstock 135mm/5.6 APO Sironar for taking out into the field (or
more like the forests around here). I was playing with a Graphic View for a
while, but the way the Super Graphic folds up into such a neat little
package really inspires me to get out more. I also have a 90 mm/6.8 Linhof
Schneider Angulon and a coated 203mm/7.7 Kodak Ektar. Sort of like carrying
around a 28, 40 and 65 on a Leica.

I've been doing a lot of landscapes with the M6, too, and especially like
the mirror-less shutter, since so often optimum f5.6 or a need for depth of
field puts shutter speeds in the 1/30 to 1 second range. I still have your
masterful treatise on SLRs and tripod use, but, man, that's almost as much
work as a setting up a view camera! I do have an SL and SL2, tho, so may
need to take your advice, read up again on tripod resonance theory and try
them out again around here. Were just starting to get into that lovely fog
and Velvia green time of the year.

I love the contrast between the contemplative way I have to think and
behave with the 4x5 in comparison to the instinctive shooting with B&W in a
 CL or M3. Somehow each way seems to sharpen the other way of seeing. In
any case, I am incredibly blessed with a photographic full plate. Is it
really legal to be having this much fun?

Regard,
Gary Todoroff
Eureka, CA