[Leica] Amateur Photographer testing the R8

[Leopold Green <ldg@dmu.ac.uk>]

hi,

Amateur Photographer [a UK magazine] did a group test of 'top end manual
cameras' in the current issue: R8, RTSIII and OM3TI and despite finding that
the first Contax model failed, and the second one didn't handle 'difficult'
lighting very well, and that the OM's shadow spot meter resulted in a
completely underexposed slide, where as the R8 handled all exposures
perfectly - guess what, first place the Olympus, second the Contax and third
the R8! What was wrong with the R8? didn't like the strap lug positions and
the manual rewind/wind on -- what did they like about the OM, all manual
including wind on and rewind!!! They also criticised the Summicron 50 1.4
for only focusing to .5 meter and therefore being no good for 'frame filling
small objects'. In all of this no mention of comparative lens line up,
except that there are many second hand Zukio lenses, which I'm sure there
are since there are precious few new ones! I really do despair of the so
called standard of these magazines. In the conclusions there was also a side
swipe at 'Leica purists' 'who will have made up their minds as to the winner
before reading the article'.

This is the same magazine that last year did a rangefinder test and placed
the M6 a distant third behind the G2 and the XPAN. I suppose the range and
quality of lenses really don't matter in these tests. I don't know why it
irritates so much, maybe because there aren't any decent magazines published
here in the UK.

Leopold