Re: [Leica] Was Copyright questions, in defense of the R8.

["Barney Quinn, Jr." <barney@ncep.noaa.gov>]

Hi,

I just purchased an R8, and have been meaning to send a comment or two about my
experience to the LUG. Perhaps this is as good as time as any to do so. I love it. I
also got the 28-70 zoom. I think that with the $200 rebates and a 10% Leica Day
discount at my local dealer that I got a good deal. Leica is, at the moment, also
adding their two year factory warrantee to the three year passport one for a total
of five years. I'm happy.

There is a Light House to the south of where I live which I have used as a test
subject for many years. I shot it with my new rig using Velvia. My personal system
test it to have an 11x14 Ciba made from a slide. I have a wife who is both long
suffering and supportive of my photographic efforts. I had the print of the light
house, which truly is spectacular, on the dining room table. Judy took one look at
it and said, "Wow, did you use a tripod?" Photography, to me, is about light and
lenses. People might want to think about what they are saying when they say, "The
only real reason to buy this camera is the lenses!" :-)

For me it came down to a choice between a Canon EOS 1v with a 28-70/F2 or the Leica
R8. I shot with the 1v for a month. I'm not going to say that the 1v isn't an
excellent camera. It is. I've used Leica glass all my life, and I simply prefer it.
I had a good chance to compare the R8 and the 1v head to head. The R8 doesn't have
autofocus. There is no way around that, and it really does put Leica in a tough
market position. Some kind of focus confirmation might at least give them a selling
point.

I was quite surprised at how capable the R8 actually is. I particularly like its
ergonomics, and to me that is another compelling reason to buy it. I am a computer
professional.  I think that it is a bit of an urban myth to say that they the R8
lacks autofocus and OTHER major features. It simply lacks autofocus. In a way the R8
may be it's own worst enemy. It has a very simple user interface which in a sense
"hides" a bunch of complex features. I wonder how many of the R8's critics have ever
shot with one, and I suspect that people sometimes confuse a complicated user
interface with a complex feature set.

I think that the 1v and the F5 are great cameras. If  I were rich I'd buy them both.
I think that the R8 is getting an undeservedly bad rap. It's a great camera.

Mxsmanic wrote:

> Ted Grant writes:
>
> > Well now son tell me and the crew exactly
> > what you heard and what seemed to be the
> > problem?
>
> Essentially that the R series offers no clear advantage over other brands of
> SLRs, except for the glass, and that it lacks many of the more advanced features
> of other makes.  However, as I've said, I haven't tried an R series camera, so I
> have no personal experience of this.  Since I already have Nikon SLRs, I have
> little incentive to invest in Leica SLRs, and all my Leica investments are in
> the M series, which _does_ offer special advantages in addition to the glass
> (such as the advantages of a good rangefinder).
>
> > Hell some of us have used them for many
> > years creating a our daily bread and not
> > had any problems.
>
> I'm sure that's true, but the same can be said for just about any high-end SLR
> (Nikon, Canon, etc.).  That is, there is no obvious advantage to using a _Leica_
> SLR, as opposed to any other.
>
> I had a reason to invest in the M, because it was something quite different from
> an SLR, but I have no reason to invest in an SLR, since I already have lots of
> those.  The glass is very nice, true, but then again, so is high-end Nikon
> glass.