Re: [Leica] 3-Cam vs. ROM

[Jeff Alford <alford@batnet.com>]

Bud,

I don't think that the ROM feature is a cost cutting mechanism. Before ROM,
most lenses were 3rd cam only, not 3 cam (you only need the 3rd cam for R
cameras).

Jeff Alford

budcook@ibm.net wrote:

> Pascal,
> Thanks for the information.  I wouldn't doubt but that Leica's motivation is
> the same as with the molded aspheric lenses....cost reduction.  Eliminating
> cams on future lenses would save a lot of money.
> Bud
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Pascal <cyberdog@ibm.net>
> To: Leica Users Group <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
> Date: Sunday, April 12, 1998 2:35 PM
> Subject: Re: [Leica] 3-Cam vs. ROM
>
> On 08-04-1998 16:08 Bud Cook wrote:
>
> >All my lenses are 3-cam lenses.  Would these lenses work on the R8?  What
> >functions of the R8 are lost without having a lens with built-in ROM?
> >
> >Do ROM lenses also have the 3-cams necessary for earlier R bodies?
> >
> Bud,
>
> Sorry for the late answer. Here it goes.
>
> Brian Bower in his book "Leica reflex photography" (new edition 1997)
> says that at this stage the contact strip provides information for
> dedicated flashguns and also to enable more precise stopping down of
> lenses when the camera is in automatic shutter speed priority or program
> operating modes.
> The manual of my R8 confirms this (on page 7 of the Dutch language
> version): "Not only a mechanical but also an electronic exposure control
> takes place when using lenses with contact strip, and certain lens data
> such as the lens' focal length, are passed on to the camera."
>
> The contact strips provide for an additional (electronic) control, e.g.
> compensation for light fall-of in the corners.
> The thing is, the actual use and potential future of the contact strip
> remains somewhat in the dark. Even Leica Solms will apparently not
> comment much on the matter. Is there another version of the R8 in the
> offing (with electronic focussing aids for which the contact strip is of
> course essential), or even the R9 (autofocus à la Contax AX)? Only future
> will tell us.
>
> Pascal
>
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