Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/11/29
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]on 11/29/02 9:06 AM, Dante Stella at dante@umich.edu wrote: > > In my never-ending quest to find things to avoid going to my office the > day after Thanksgiving, I went through and evaluated the arguments pro > and contra in the never-ending struggle between electronic cameras > (say, M7s, Hexars and late Leica R series) and all-mechanical ones > (Leica M6s, Nikon Fs, etc.). > > This is the link > > http://www.dantestella.com/technical/mechanical.html > > Does anyone have any other thoughts or arguments pro or con *not* > addressed there? I am particularly interested in failure modes you > have actually experienced with electronic and mechanical cameras. > > Regards > Dante > IMHO, the issue isn't "electronic" vs. "mechanical", it's more an issue of design and build quality than technology. I use the Leicaflex SL for a number of reasons, including build quality, viewfinder clarity and focus ease, lens quality, and continuously variable shutter speeds. This last feature is a big one to me, which brings up a sentence on your web page: "In the 35mm world, aperture-priority autoexposure and autowinding are good things with no downside" As a blanket statement I disagree. auto exposure and auto winding can be handy but they are not without downsides. I gave up on autowinding when I found that the battery contacts kept getting fouled and the winder quit with no warning. I also gave up on auto exposure because a "pretty good" exposure isn't good enough for my uses. I like the continuously-variable shutter in the Leicaflex SL because I can fine-tune the shutter speed for correct exposure at my lens' maximum aperture; I can't do this with an electronic camera offering only 1/2-stop shutter speed increments in manual mode. If an electronic camera offered something closer to the SL's continuously-variable shutter speeds IN MANUAL MODE along with the SL's other features I'd have no trouble using an electronic camera. Doug Herr Birdman of Sacramento http://www.wildlightphoto.com - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html