Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/06/13
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]http://www.uclick.com/client/byr/aj/ - -- Jim - http://www.hemenway.com "Leonard J. Kapner" wrote: > > For those contemplating the migration from film to digital capture, it > may be helpful to learn of one long-time Leica owner's experience (me) > descending into the digital capture domain. Forgive me in advance if I'm > tredding old ground, but I've only been a LUG member for several months, > and I haven't seen much written on this subject. > > Last year, I succumbed to the hype and purchased a Coolpix 995 for > "casual" snapshot use. I used it seldom and found it to be "strange" to > use compared to my Leica Ms and Rs. I didn't make many images with it > and when the Coolpix 5K arrived, gave the 995 to son #2 and went to > Yosemite with Coolpix 5K and Leica R for five days to do some a:b > comparisons. > > My conclusion? After a serious interval in the field trying to use the > 5K (and a few hours with my wife's D1x, a power-hungry brick of a > camera... I'd rather haul a Hasselblad!) I am full-circle back to film > capture, for the following four reasons: > > 1. Look-through viewfinders on the non-SLR digital cameras are uniformly > terrible - where were the photographer-testers when camera designs were > being thought through? Did the packaging engineers win? > 2. LCD viewfinders are a joke - I'd rather use a Rollei TLR, it's > brighter in daylight and much less granular. And they require far less > battery power... ;-) > 3. Image acquisition average latency (elapsed time to AF "ready" light > on) is excessive, in the range of 2-3 seconds, making the digital > capture solution almost unworkable for anything other than landscape, > posed portraiture or still life applications > 4. Human interface to the onboard camera operating system software is > cumbersome and non-intuitive - no way to conveniently work non-preset > choices by "feel" alone; it's like buying a new "improved" computer > keyboard and discovering that you're not able to touch-type on it!! > > BTW I had an opportunity to "handle" a Leica Digilux 1 production > prototype about 4 weeks ago when the new rep in our area happened by the > local dealer while I was picking up something. Impressions are that the > camera is poorly finished, "bricky" feeling, LCD is bigger, brighter, > perhaps better, human interface to the on-board OS is a bit easier than > the Coolpix, but latency and look-through viewfinder is still woefully > poor and cannot compare to the immediacy and quality of M and R film > alternatives. > > My takeaway? Unless one is willing to spend well north of US$5K for > premium-level non-Leica digital SLR rig, this technology is not ready > for prime time just yet. That's why I've come full-circle back to film > capture with my Leicas, for virtually every photographic application > that interests me. > > Anyone out there have a different set of experiences from which we all > might learn? Does anyone think that these technology shortcomings are > likely to change in the near future? > > /Len/ > Leonard J. Kapner > Tel: (310) 377-5060 > E-mail: ljkapner@cox.net > > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html