Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/03/07

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Leica R4 ou R5?
From: Kevin Leong <kevinl@ind.tansu.com.au>
Date: Wed, 08 Mar 2000 10:52:05 +1100

César Bernardo wrote:

> I don`t have much money, but maybe I could get an
> a R5 cheap, it`s better than R4, with TTL  flash metering and a top shutter
> speed of 1/2000sec.

The R5 does have TTL flash metering but it's very primitive compared to modern
Nikon and Canon offerings available at the same price - the one thing I didn't
like about the R5 is that the slowest shutter speed is 1/2s, instead of 1s on
the R4 and 4s on the R7 (I think).

The R7, and perhaps the R5, also has illuminated numbers for meter readings in
the viewfinder; this is a major pain with the R4 which has LED's next to the
shutter speed/aperture which are backlit by the lens image. This is really
difficult to read in low-light situations. The R4 also has no mirror lock-up.

> I want definition and contrast at 35mm.

I'm not sure that Leica lenses will necessarily give you better definition or
contrast - I've found that Mamiya and Nikon lenses tend to give a harder,
sharper look and contrast is more dependent on film choice. Leica lenses tend
to be more neutral and resistant to flare (so I guess you'll get better
contrast when shooting into the light). Perhaps you can find a camera shop
that will allow you to do some side-by-side comparisons...

- --
    Kevin Leong
    Telstra Future e-Development
    Phone: +61-2-9206-3474  Fax: +61-2-9281-1301
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