[Leica] Re: R8's

[Andrew Nemeth <azn@nemeng.com>]

DAVE YODER <leica@home.com> wrote:

> Can't decide between the R8 and the R6.2. I'm soliciting 
> recommendations. It'll be for photojournalism, mostly.

Depends if you need automatic exposure.  If not, then
get the R6.2 with a winder or motor.  The camera's a truck
which works all the time, any time, with or without batteries!
Three annoying things though: the shutter detension buzz after 
1/250th, awkward mirror pre-release instead of a proper mirror
lock-up and glacial X-sync speed.

If you do need automatic exposure, then may I suggest a R7 
instead?  Like the R6.2 you get a choice of winder or motor,
and as the last of the Minolta-body R's, it has had most of
the bugs ironed out.

IMO, the R8 is a mistake.  Way too bulky, flaky electronics &
contacts, weird (ie non-AA) batteries and no built-in motor.
Also huge Q-mark as to how long its working life will be
(5-10 years?...)

Switching over from 16 years of Nikons, I've been using my R6.2 
for over 6 months now and noted quirks aside, am very happy with 
it.  As I incident meter everything (Gossen Sixtomat-F),  I don't 
need the exposure options (or built-in meter for that matter!).  
I have small hands, so large camera bulk is out of the question.  
I travel light, so spare batteries & bodies is a no-no.  And finally, 
I live in a country where Lieca service is so glacially slow that 
having to service a camera basically means losing it for 5+ weeks.

I like my R6.2 pretty much for the same reasons LUG_nuts like their
M's:  it's small, quiet, reliable, built to last and gets the 
job done without bells & whistles & 'oh golly look at me with 
my huge expensive camera'!

Regds,

Andrew Nemeth

VR MEDIA  SOUND  PHOTO  JAVA
nemeng  Warrimoo   Australia
www.nemeng.com