Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/02/14

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Some comments on Leica SLR's
From: Roy Zartarian <rzartarian@snet.net>
Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2002 13:06:32 -0500
References: <001401c1b505$32ef6be0$0200a8c0@mediaone.net>

On Wednesday 13 February 2002 10:10 pm, tlianza wrote:
> The R8 is a true enigma.  It's a bit too large. It has a wealth of features
> and I'm not sure that I could or would rely on it in the field, too much
> electronics.    It doesn't seem as rugged as the R6, but I'm sure there
> will be a flood of photographers that will say other wise. 

Well, I guess I'll be the first wave of the flood.  I have both the R6 and 
R8.  Both bodies have metering that is right on the money for accuracy.  
However, my preferred camera for field work - birds and insects - remains the 
R8 because of its electronic features such as aperture referred autoexposure, 
TTL fill flash, and, with the motor drive, automatic bracketing.  Do I coddle 
it? Not especially.  There's still some mud on the bottom plate from last 
Sunday's outing.  Have the electronics let me down? Yes - but generally a 
cleaning of the various contacts sets things right.  Is it easy to carry?  
Atop a monopod or tripod with a 280/2.8, 1 or 2 extenders, bracket, flash and 
battery pack - heck no.  But because of the onboard circuitry, I can 
concentrate on focus, compositon and approach with subjects that are quick to 
flee.

That said, I will admit that when I can finally make my trip of a lifetime to 
the ancestral homeland, the R6 will be with me and the R8 won't.  The last 
thing I want to worry about is whether I can find Varta batteries in central 
Anatolia.

Roy
 

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In reply to: Message from "tlianza" <tlianza@mediaone.net> ([Leica] Some comments on Leica SLR's)