Re[4]: [Leica] deception -- None

[Peterson_Art@hq.navsea.navy.mil]

     Bob,
     
     You mention that an SLR "goes thru a complex series of time-consuming 
     coordinated mechanical functions before the shutter fires," but surely 
     that difference from an M camera is merely a matter of milliseconds; 
     otherwise Nikon photographers would have a reputation for missing the 
     precise moment of action (which, as far as I know, they do not).
     
     You also state that a "reflex viewfinder is always focused at the 
     largest aperture...so other elements...are out of focus...[and]...You 
     must either use the stop down button or imagine what the elements in 
     focus will be...[and so]...usually prefer to focus rather than preset 
     focus because the viewfinder image is rather uncertain...[whereas 
     there are]...No such second thoughts with an M."  But a rangefinder 
     camera's viewfinder is equally not indicative of what is in focus, but 
     in the opposite way (i.e., EVERYTHING is in focus).  And in any case, 
     there is no reason why an SLR user should not preset focus---as, in 
     fact, I often do myself with my Nikon.
     
     But more importantly, your response says nothing about the main points 
     of your original message that I questioned: that is, how, with a Leica 
     M camera, you are "directly confronting your subject" or are "part of 
     the camera" or have "DOF...calculated in your head" or are "ahead of 
     the shot"---any more than would be the case with a Nikon SLR.  I know 
     the ways in which SLRs differ from Leica rangefinder cameras, since I 
     use both myself (and you and I have enumerated many of those ways in 
     our respective messages); I simply fail to understand the additional 
     distinctions you made, as re-quoted in this paragraph.
     
     Art