[Leica] Re: M superior to R for fast moving objects

["Scott D. Burnside" <scottb@lausd.k12.ca.us>]

Hi,

I have shot a lot of air shows using an SLR camera, usually with a 400,
500 or 600mm lens. The trick to following the action, besides
anticipating, is shooting with both eyes open. It takes some practice but
what doesn't.

Let's say you are shooting the Blue Angels and the opposing solos are
going to cross each other in show center from opposite directions. Let's
say I have my Nikon F5 with a 500 F4 AFS lens. I pick a solo, let's say
the guy coming from the right. I put him in the viewfinder and now follow
him toward the center with my right eye. My left eye is outside the
viewfinder and open (my right eye is open too, by the way :) ). I can now
anticipate when the cross will occur. If you have your left eye closed,
and wait for the cross to happen in the viewfinder via your right eye
you'll miss the shot every time. (Remembering the old saw about seeing it
in the viewfinder means the mirror was down not up and therefore you
didn't get the shot) With the left eye open, you can now begin shooting a
bit before the cross happens and then just follow the guy from the right
clear through the action you're trying to capture. You know the cross is
about to happen because you can see the guy from the left out of the
corner of you left eye as you track toward him follwing the guy coming
from the right. An F5 with follow focus and 8fps motor drive means that
you have increased the odds of a good shot vs a 2fps or 4fps manual focus
M or R type camera.

These same principals can be used following birds in flight. Having both
eyes open also allows you to pick up your subject rather more easily
because you don't have to search for your subject in the viewfinder with a
long lens which can be very frustrating given the magnification we're
talking about.

Hope this  helps,
Scott D. Burnside

On Sun, 7 Jun> From: "C.M. Fortunko"
<fortunko@boulder.nist.gov> > Date: Sun, 07 Jun 1998 17:58:27 -0600
> Subject: [Leica] Superiority of M over SLR
> 
> Leicanuts,
> 
> I lost a whole bunch of shots today, because I was using an SLR by another
> famous maker. I should have used my 135mm/2.8 first-version Elmarit (before
> M). The M finder allows tracking of flying exotic birds much more easily
> than that of an SLR, which is like Bill Gates' What You See Is What You Get.
> Too bad the rangefinders cannot work with longer lenses. I think that I will
> have to get wire sights for my SLR. Then, I will be able to finally take a
> photo of the blue heron that flew over my head 10 times today.
> 
> Best of Light,
> 
> Chris