Re: [Leica] ....M vs R's...

[Godfrey DiGiorgi <ramarren@bayarea.net>]

>Can someone summarise what's teh basic diff between M photography vs SLR
>photography... Just read that someone said it takes some time getting used
>to M -use......

In an earlier era, people would have said it takes time to get used to 
SLR cameras ... :)

So why? It comes down to the basic differences between using any 
viewfinder camera versus using an SLR. You have to get used to focusing 
the M rangefinder properly, get used to viewing and framing through a 
viewfinder which is a separate optical system from the taking lens. For 
those who grew up with SLRs and have never used a manual rangefinder, it 
can take a little time to make the change. 

The SLR is a more flexible camera because you can basically focus and 
frame a picture with any lens that mounts on it the same way. A 
Rangefinder camera requires different viewfinder apparatus for each 
different lens mounted. There's little a Rangefinder can do that an SLR 
cannot, the difference is simply how you can do things with a Rangefinder 
camera where the SLR can be awkward. 

Since a Rangefinder does not have a moving mirror for the lens to avoid, 
lens designs for rangefinders can develop in ways that don't have to take 
into account how close the rear element comes to the film. They are 
usually more compact for the same focal length and aperture, and are 
generally simpler mechanically.

The characteristics of a Leica M are very quiet operation, ease of 
focusing wide angle lenses, ease of focusing in low light conditions, 
unobtrusivness in use. If you use a flash, you can see what the subject's 
eyes are doing at the moment of exposure (when an SLR viewfinder will be 
blacked out). You must remember to focus, remember to set the proper 
exposure... in this age of "auto everything" cameras, it's sometimes easy 
to forget since the viewfinder doesn't tell you much about whether the 
subject is in focus unless you look at the focus rectangle, and if you're 
like me you can ignore the exposure indicators too... ;)

Both types of cameras have their use. I tend to use super wide to normal 
focal length lenses on rangefinder bodies, and normal to ultra-telephoto 
on SLR bodies (even though a have a couple of telephotos for RF and 
several wideangles for SLRs). 

That scratches the surface. 

Godfrey