[Leica] Weight- was Canon Eos whatever and also F3 (somewhat OT)

["Rod Fleming" <rodfleming@sol.co.uk>]

Hi

Donal wrote

>But add the motor and you have something resembling a boat anchor.  Of
course, being a sailor, I appreciate that heavy anchors provide a deep
sense of security.  Try the scales with Eos1, battery pack against the
F3 and motor.<

Ochone, ochone, Donal, that would hardly be fair........The essential
difference between the Eos and the F3 in this regard is that the MD4 motor
is an optional extra, and the F3 is fully functional with human thumb
advance; whereas with any Eos, you're going to have to lug around those
batteries. Compare the Eos with an F4E (or an F5- now there's a boat anchor)
and you're right, but that misses the point.

Which is that relatively small, light, simple SLR cameras like the F3 still
have a place in the professional toolkit. Put me beside a soccer or a rugby
match and there's no way I'm leaving that motordrive behind, but take me up
a mountain track miles from the nearest road and ask me to do a feature on
conservation, and hey Donal, I don' need to carry no steenkin' motordrive,
or the batteries!

So I think my comparison with the M2 was fair- the SLR is giving away some
weight advantage, but the return is being able to clap on that 180mm F2.8
ED. Actually, since I started using Leicas again, I find that pairing the M
and short lenses with the F3 and teles works very well for me. Makes for a
very light, compact, and flexible toolkit. I venture to guess a good few
others work this way, mixing RF and SLR camera systems as it suits their
needs.

Now my next point- Mike J stirred me to write of my concern that the F3 had
been quietly discontinued, but now it seems that this may not be so after
all. I note that Mike has since posted something of a retraction. Well,
whatever, I for one would be sorry to see Nikon dispense with the F3. (I
like the FM2n, but it's not as good, even if it is fully mechanical.)

I guess I'm going to have to wait and see. Nikon UK, FWIW, continue to carry
a full stock of F3 parts and are supplying new F3s readily.

Meantime may I ask again- is it possible to get an adapter to fit Nikon AI
lenses on a Leica R, while retaining infinity focus, full aperture metering
and auto stop-down, or are the two just totally incompatible? If there are
any engineering designers out there, I have friends here in the precision
engineering business who might be tempted by the challenge of making such a
thing.


Cheers


Rod