Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/12/01
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Rod Fleming wrote: >>> Last year I went out with a friend who is a well known wildlife photog because we were doing contrasting "Day in the Life" features for a UK mag (Photo Technique). My friend was using a Nikon F5 with the latest 300 & 500 lenses, yet when snapping (sorry, since Dunblane I have a thing about the term "shooting" when applied to cameras) seabirds in flight, I, using an F4 and manual lenses, had better results. You should try photographing wheeling seagulls with a tele from the top of a 300-ft cliff, BTW. It's enlightening. That is because the process of making pictures involves the interaction of hand, eye and brain, and for me, the best brain is the one between my lugs, not the microprocessor in the black box I'm holding. My brain has 30 years experience taking pictures, and there's no digital substitute for that. Can an AF system predict which way a footballer will kick the ball? Or which way a seabird will jink? I think not. <<< I swore to myself I wouldn't get involved in a dumb N-vs-C thread yet here I am. My comments are not so much N-vs-C as they are AF-vs-MF. Rod's experience with snaps of seabirds in flight is much like my own. Using the SL (on-topic) and either the 400mm or 560mm f/6.8 Telyt I have no desire for AF. Not only do I consider AF an overrated feature but I find cameras designed around AF to be less useful in MF mode than a camera such as the SL that was optimized for manual focus. All IMHO, of course. Doug Herr Sacramento http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/telyt