Re: [Leica] Amateur Photographer testing the R8

["Dr. Joseph Yao" <yaojkfdr@netvigator.com>]

Leopold Green wrote:
> 
> 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

Unfortunately, British magazines tend to have a bad habit of testing low
end/cheap/awful equipment 99% of the time, and when they do test higher
end stuff, they put too much emphasis on so called 'value for money',
and in their speak this means 'most bang for the bucks' or 'most
features per Pound'.  This, unfortunately, also applies to their Hi-fi
and motoring magazines.  As a matter of fact, Amateur Photographer never
tested the M6 until 1998, although the camera, as we all know, was 
launched in 1984.

Leica ownership is not about value for money, it is about ABSOLUTE
quality.  To compare the R8 against the Olympus OM3 Ti without
mentioning optical quality of Leica lenses is unprofessional, ignorant
and insulting to Leica.  Perhaps the title of the magazine says it all:
'AMATEUR Photographer'.

JY