re: [Leica] A way of photographing and autofocus.

[Harrison McClary <harrison@mcclary.net>]

Larry,

I agree.  While the R8 is a nice handling camera (I will not comment on 
my experience on its reliability as I am sure all of you know about that) 
I find the Canon EOS 1 & 1n to be the most ergonomic camera I have ever 
used.  I have always felt this way.  With this body I can bracket a roll 
of velvia in 1/3 stops almost as fast as I can push the exposure button 
using the wheel on the back of the camera.  This wheel allows me to hold 
the camera much more firmly while bracketing as I do not have to move my 
supporting hand from under the lens to back near the camera body to move 
the aperture.

Just because one makes use of various tools (like AF) does not mean he is 
in anyway giving up creative control over the image.  I still shoot in 
full manual exposure modes, often in manual focus and such.

Oh, and Jim, I do use my M6 a lot on assignment and do know how to use 
the Leica R stuff on any kind of assignment...have covered World Series 
games, NFL football, documentary work, and editorial assignments with 
Leica R, the bodies were just not reliable enough for me.  Bad luck, 
whatever...I don't care  I just know that I lost more photos due to 
camera failure than is financially acceptable for me.  

>Not necessarily. A couple months back I purchased a Nikon F100 (the
>handling of it is far, far more agreeable to me than the R8 -- just
>personal preferance -- and the handling of the body is every bit as
>important to me as the quality of the lenses). I shoot with it completely
>manually. I set exposure manually. I set focus manually. I use it much as
>you describe use of your cameras. But having electronic focus confirmation
>(addressed later in your post) in five easily-selected locations I have
>found a significant convenience. Likewise having five locations of tight
>spot meters. And I find myself using bracketing more than I expected I
>would. In short, with AF comes other conveniences that make, for some
>(many?) of us, a camera body even more useful even with manual photography.



Harrison McClary
email: harrison@mcclary.net
http://www.mcclary.net
preview my book: http://www.volmania.com