Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/04/15
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Bob Burgess wrote: I am a photographer and use Canon EOS system. I was curious of the advantages, if any, to also using a Leica R system for personal color work. I use the M system frequently but long for similar quality in SLR glass. Anyone with R experience who could offer advice would be appreciated. Which body? I like to throw things to "Matrix" type metering when convenient..R7 ? R6.2? R8? Reliability - is it a factor? Many thanks for taking the time to send your insight my way. I can be reached at bobburgess@earthlink.net Thanks again. www,rburgessphoto.com - ---------------------------------------------------------------- Bob: I have both the M and R system. I confess that I am more comfortable with a reflex camera than a rangefinder. I turned in Canon gear a long time ago for the R gear. The Leica lenses are superb - I have 15mm to 400mm primes. I have shot beside professional Canon shooters at my son's Little League games with a 400mm Telyt f6.8 against Canon L glass. The 400mm Telyt is a gem of a lens and cheap as Leica gear goes. My photos are consistently higher quality in color saturation and crispness. I have a R6 and R7. The R6 is bullet proof and ultra reliable. It's, to me, the M6 of reflex cameras. I like the R7 a lot, but had the shutter mechanism freeze up once. It was fixed under warranty by Leica USA and is now perfect. It does not have a matrix meter system. With slide film or B&W, I find it best to use the R7 on the manual metering mode - and its manual mode is superb. I use the 400mm Telyt with the aperture preferred metering mode with all film and it works great. The variable program mode is good for color print film. The OTF flash system works great providing suburb fill flash - limited by a 1/100 sec sync speed - I use the shutter preferred mode for outdoor fill flash. I chose the R7 over the R8 so that my motor drive and flash would be compatible. I think that a person just starting with the R system would be happier with the R8 - matrix metering and 1/250 sec sync speed. Good luck. Doug