[Leica] M8 Review

[telyt at earthlink.net (Douglas Herr)]

FRANK DERNIE <frank.dernie@btinternet.com> wote:

>
>If it were to use the rangefinder windows it would
>-have- to be where the rangefinder patch is, and
>there's the rub. I am sure all Leica M users are used
>to selecting which part of the image contained within
>the rangefinder patch is the bit they wish to be in
>focus and focussing accordingly. The af sensor would
>not be able to do that - any more than it can on my
>Canon in fact.
>

I've been sitting on my hands while following this sub-thread because it's 
more about rangefinder focussing than SLR... or is it?  The discussion of AF 
accuracy, placement of the focussing patch and needless added complexity 
applies to SLR cameras as well as to the rangefinder.  It seems that the 
fussiness, inaccuracy and complexity of AF have been accepted for the SLR 
while it has not been for the rangefinder.  I agree with Harrison and Frank 
(no surprise) that the M doesn't need AF, and I also believe that except for 
very limited circumstances a camera with a top-quality SLR viewfinder like 
the SL's has no need for AF.  On the SL a 560mm lens with 1.4x extender 
(effective aperture f/9.5) is a snap to focus, likewise the 90/2, 100/2.8, 
60/2.8, 280/4... slower wides are a bit fussier but zone focus and DOF 
covers most situations where you'd have to work quickly, just like on a 
rangefinder caemra... and how many AF systems work reliably at f/9.5?  On 
the SL I nail the focus 90% of the time regrdless of lighting or lens 
aperture, with the R8 I depend much more on bracketing focus and digital's 
low cost of mistakes.  With the R4 I depend on good light and stopping down 
for DOF.

It's my contention that AF's popularity is a direct result of manufacturers, 
by building cameras with merely adequate viewfinders, inadvertantly 
conditioning their customers to believe that manual focus is nessesarily 
difficult.  How many M users are willing to give up a high-quality 
viewfinder for the sake of a focus confirmation light?


Doug Herr
Birdman of Sacramento
http://www.wildlightphoto.com