Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/01/27
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Yes, Peter - If I had a camera with the image quality of the E20 that was lighter, faster, and more handy I would indeed consider it. BUT - The E-20 was/is an honest to God SLR - albeit with fixed lens - but it is a WYSIWG...sort of. From everything I'm reading, the DigiII is not - yes, it's got a reasonably decent viewfinder, but not a real rangefinder viewfinder, which means that the best way to use it is as a little tv held up to your face...and given that, I'm back to comparing it to cameras that cost much much less.... As to the controls...Where the controls are really means nothing to me, as long as they're easy to use...I shoot with the Nikon F100s, with their front and rear fstop and shutter speed dials; I shoot with the C5060, with top and rear dials; I shoot with the E-1, with front and rear dials; and I shoot with the Ms....and as astounding as some may find it, I don't have any problems, nor do I get confused when going from camera to camera....Frankly, the little shutter speed dial on the M is a pain in the ass....classic, yes, but so is the original VW Beetle, with it's top speed of 70 downhill in a tail wind and a gas tank in the front that guarantees you'll be a car bomb if you hit a bale of hay...;-)...Frankly, I like the front and rear dials on the F100 and E-1... ;-) Again, if Leica or someone else figured out how to give me a rangefinder body that would be a real rangefinder, and take my M lenses - hopefully full-frame - I'd love it...But that is probably not going to happen....So meanwhile I want the best bang for my buck, not a 'look alike' at double the price and no more function.... - -----Original Message----- From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us [mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us] On Behalf Of Peter Klein Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2004 1:10 AM To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us Subject: RE: [Leica] More Digilux 2 images B. D., you're certainly correct that the Digilux 2 price is sublimely ridiculous. BUT. . . let's say the Panasonic LC1 version ends up priced about where the Sony 717 is now--$800-ish. Let's say it gives similar image quality to the 717, has a fast autofocus and little shutter lag, and the EVF is usable. Then it may be worth that price. It may even be worth a bit more, because the film-camera-like controls make it faster and easier to use. You were very happy with your E-20, which is, like the D2 and LC1, a 5 mp 2/3 sensor camera. You've often demonstrated that the E-20 was perfectly acceptable for many situations. If you could have a camera with similar image quality, but that was lighter, faster and more handy, and had the controls where God and Oscar Barnack intended--wouldn't you consider such a camera for yourself? I certainly will. No, it isn't a real Leica, any more than any digicam is. It isn't worth 2-3x the price of comparable digicams. But, it might be useful for someone who wants the convenience of digital with some of the operational qualities of an M. I think we need to separate the camera from the marketing. If you do that, you realize that the D2 is a grossly overpriced useful hybrid camera, but the LC1 may turn out to be a reasonably priced useful hybrid. Leica will try to make us believe that the D2 is truly different and better. And I predict that just like the LC5/D1, they will be identical except for the shell and perhaps a couple of parameter defaults. And besides, the LC1's lens still says "Leica," even if it doesn't have the red dot. :-) - --Peter Klein Seattle At 05:45 PM 1/26/04 -0800, "B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net> wrote: >Images look 'okay' - They do NOT look as though they were produced by a >5 mgp fixed lens camera that sells for more than TWICE the price of its >competitors - because they sure are not twice as good - in fact, they >don't look any better. But, hey, you get a red dot with the damn thing, >so go for it...:-) - -- 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