Re: [Leica] Thoughts on R8s

["tlianza" <tlianza@mediaone.net>]

Hi,

I recently bought a Leica winder for my M6.  It was one of the units
designed for the M4-2.  It works well enough, but it is so loud that it
defeats the purpose for having the M in the first place.  I bought one of
Tom A's rapid winder and as soon as I get it, the power winder goes back on
to ebay.

As far as the R8 goes, I'm sure that it is a wonderful camera, but you may
want to check out the new Nikon FM3a.  Nikon has realized that there are
those that don't want that confusing array of options and the FM3a is a
manual focus, simple metering machine.   I have an F100 and an N80.  I don't
use a fraction of the features, but I have found the predictive autofocus
(on the F100) and the AFS lenses really do change what you can do in sports
photography.  I own the 80-200 f/2.8 and the 80-400 Vibration Reduction
Lens.  The VR lens really opened up a lot of  handheld opportunities.  Both
of those zooms are very good lenses.  I'll be doing a comparison of the 90
mm summicron, and tele-elmarit, along with the 85 f1.8 Nikkor and the two
zooms at 90 mm.  some time this month.

I have a short page on my web site if you are interested in looking at the
handheld capability of that VR lens.

www.lianza.org/tlphotos/Nikon400.html

As you'll note, the image on that page was shot at 1/40 sec, wide open, at
400mm from a standing position.  I spent the better part of a day wandering
around in the rain just snapping images to practice.  I did blow a few, but
for the most part, a little care prior to pushing the shutter really goes a
long way.

The two areas of rapid focus and vibration reduction are two areas where the
Nikon or Canon technologies seem to shine and Leica doesn't seem to be
heading.

On the other hand, I found that there were circumstances, particularly when
shooting theater and candids, that the automatic slr just got in the way.
That's what drove me to the M6.  The Nikon N80 is a great "little" camera,
but the M6 is dwarfed by it.  In the end, I decided to keep the Nikons for
the longer lenses and concentrate on the "M's" for the people work and wide
angle work.

From my standpoint, I feel comfortable with the Automatic SLR's for the
sports and outdoor work, and the manual cameras for indoor and travel.  I
don't think that I would want to have the R8 and the M6.  I don't think that
they compliment one another, but that's just my opinion.


Tom Lianza
Technical Director
Sequel Imaging Inc.
25 Nashua Rd.
Londonderry, NH 03053
tlianza@sequelimaging.com