Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/02/11
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Bob You Wrote: >>I beg to differ with you on the meter and shutter accuracy of the Leicaflex. I have had them since they were new and in most of my photography over the years with them, I have used Kodachrome almost exclusively. The exposures have always been right on.<< Your point is well taken. And I agree the meter is fairly accurate, condsidering age. But it's not going to be as easy to use, or provide as consistent exposures as an R7 or R8. I did some testing with a Luna Pro, an S2 and an M6. Not grey card readings but actual situations. The Luna Pro, S2 and M6 are almost always within 1/3 stop of each other. The SL came up 1/2 stop under to 1 and 1.5 stop over. Part of the variation had to do with the SL's spot metering, which is not a problem. Unfortunately, another part was due to the fact that it's an older analog meter. It's slow and the cell appears to have some memory. I don't think a CLA would change that. I've never been one for bracketing. I was thrilled in the mid '70s when when Nikon went to gallium cells with the F2SB head. Talk about technological breakthroughs. The readings were accurate and instantaneous. This is similar to an M4-P vs M6 dilema that I faced a few years back. I bought a 28/2.8 Elmarit and decided to go with framelines instead of a finder. I found a used M4-P for $750. A used M6 back then was even more than they're going for today. The best I could find was about $1,700 used or $2,100 new. I thought, "that's a lot to pay for a meter! It's not worth it." A year later I finally broke down and bought a new M6. I had to eat some crow among my fellow M6 owners. I guess from that I'd rather pay $1,000 for an R7 than $500 for an SL. >>I can;t say that my results are an different among these bodies under equivalent conditions except that the SL and SL2 "feel" better to me.<< There's no questions that the SL has a feel unlike any other SLR. The shutter is smooth as silk. The body has mass and stability. And it has a great viewfinder. It's a classic camera in every sense. But I'd rather have an R7 or R8 for slide film. I'm looking at a 100/2.8 APO and a 180/2.8 APO as the two reasons I'd move to Leica R. If I'm going to get those lenses I want a camera with fast and accurate digital metering. Dave