Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/05/08
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Doug Herr wrote: > the slippery slope of automation! then next thing will be a slow-speed > warning (switchable between a bronx cheer, a vibration under the shutter > finger and pulsating LEDs); then it will be "smart" meter mode switching > beween spot, center-weighted and matrix so you don't have to think about it; > the automatic "features" will eventually be seen an nesessities and before > you know it the svelte, silent M has grown to the size of an F5! I don't think it will ever come to that, the whole point of the M7 is that they have managed to squeeze in this particular convenience without increasing the size or the feel relative to the M6TTL. I would not even have bought the M7 if it did not provide the two mechanical shutter speeds of 1/60 and 1/125 as backup. > I figure that if the photo requires more brainpower that the gray stuff > behind the viewfinder it's not "my" picture any more. A couple things Leica > did right with the M7 are the limited auto-exposure and keeping the manual > mode as simple to use as the M6. Agreed. And I do not believe that I use any less brainpower with the M7 than with the M6, only I can shoot faster with the M7. And as you say, the manual mode is totally unchanged from previous Ms. AE is not inherently evil, and at least I have used enough brainpower to ensure consistently correct exposures (by aiming the camera properly etc.). Any further automation would be useless to me. I never use the program mode on my R8, for example--always either manual or aperture-preferred. The same was true in my pre-Leica days when I was using Pentax SLRs with all sorts of program modes. The final fantastic feature of Leica is the backwards compatibility. When I went to London last week I carried with me a mid-1950s collapsible 50mm Summicron, which I promptly put on the M7 in the shop. I do not know of any other camera system where you can put an almost-50 year old lens on a 2002 model. In the 4 years I have been on the LUG some of the persistent wishes expressed have been for an electronic shutter, a proper off-switch, and (a bit less frequently) things like AE and DX coding. It seems to me that in developing the M7 Leica has done an eminently good job of listening to its customers. Nathan - -- Nathan Wajsman Herrliberg (ZH), Switzerland e-mail: wajsman@webshuttle.ch mobile: +41 78 732 1430 Photo-A-Week: http://www.wajsman.com/indexpaw2002.htm General photo site: http://www.wajsman.com/index.htm - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html