Re: [Leica] Shutter lag, the EOS RT, and the M6

[Martin Howard <mvhoward@mac.com>]

Mike Johnston wrote, in part:
> 
> And it was _ten_ milliseconds shutter lag, Martin, not 100
>

Yep, I know.  What I meant was the trade-off: Either having to wait 100ms
for the shutter lag (in a conventional SLR), or the 1/3 or whatever stop
light falloff (in the EOS RT).

Shopping on paper may well be the bane of good camera design, but I think it
is inevitable.  I'm currently playing around with the idea of (sometime)
getting an SLR system for macro and tele work.  If money were absolutely no
issue, I'd simply buy a couple of R8s with motordrives, 60 macro, 85/1.4,
100 macro, 180/2.8 APO, and 280/4 APO and be done with it.  I'd settle
happily for secondhand stuff and never look back.  The world can keep their
F5s and EOS-1vs for all I care.

However, money is an issue.  I know some of the core features that the
camera must have, and I know some of the core features that the lenses must
exhibit, but other than that, anything else is a bonus, and pros must be
weighed against cons.  Now, given that there are both secondhand and new
markets, this leads to some interesting dilemmas.

It would be nice to be in a position where I could use first hand experience
to judge the relative merits of cameras.  But, the fact is, even if I'm
considering something as comparatively cheap as a Canon F1 with 60 macro,
85/1.2L, 135/2.0, 200/2.8 and 300/4L vs. a Nikon F3 with 55 macro, 85/1.4,
105/2.5, 180/2.8 and 300/4.5, when you total up the value of the two
systems, you realize that it would be cheaper to just buy the R8s than to do
the comparison.  And I haven't even mentioned Contax MF, Canon AF, Nikon AF,
or Minolta AF yet.

My point is that shopping on paper becomes a necessity.  I simply do not
have access to the camera systems to allow me to make the comparison first
hand.  I have to go with spec sheets, other people's reviews, looking at
pictures and noting which lens was used, talking to photographers who've use
the respective systems, etc., and try to piece it all together.

I think the EOS fell victim to this: in the equation, for most people, 10ms
shutter lag didn't seem like a big bonus.  They could live with 100ms quite
happily.  On the other hand, I'm sure that many could envision a situation
where 1/2 stop more speed would be very welcome.  That situation may not
occur very often, but it occurs more often and has more impact on the
average consumer SLR user's odd critical picture than the 90ms shorter has.

M.

- -- 
Martin Howard                     | "Very funny Scotty.  Now beam down
Interactive Systems Designer      | my clothes."
email: mvhoward@mac.com           |
www: http://mvhoward.i.am/        +---------------------------------------