[LRFlex] Re: It would have happened anyway...

  • From: David Young <dnr@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: leicareflex@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 10:09:25 -0800

Xavier wrote:

You tempted me (and I am obliged to you) with putting the lens in my bag this summer.

Oh sure! Blame me for your empty wallet! Go ahead, I've got broad shoulders! ;-)




But now, you say the R8 is bug free?

The R8 was pretty much bug free from the beginning. The legendary problems stemmed from the fact that the Winder-R8 was outsourced (not sure to whom) and Leica apparently changed the specs of the camera *after* ordering the winder, but didn't tell the winder maker!


Thus, you could buy an R8 and it would work just fine, until you put a winder on it - perhaps years later), and then it would invariably die!

There were also some minor static issues, as some of the internals were not grounded/shielded well enough. But these were not bugs in the programming, nor did they cause errors in operation/exposure. In rare instances, however, the cameras would die, from static discharge.

I was (sort of) lucky. My R8 came from a dealer with some very old stock. Early German production. Sadly, when the camera was just a few days old, the strap (a Domke Gripper) failed and my nice, shiny, new R8 shot off my shoulder and fell to the pavement. It seemed functional, but was badly beaten up, as it fell top side down!

The camera was returned to the Canadian distributor of the day, Lisle-Kelco, and they (eventually) repaired it under passport warranty. At the same time, as per Leica's policy, the electronics were gutted from the beast, and replaced with the latest innards.

Although LK denied having done so, this was later confirmed by Joseph Yao, who showed me how you can tell by external examination. (Thank you, Joseph!)

Certainly, when I later bought Howard Cummer's Winder-R, it worked perfectly with the camera, and continues to do so! (Thanks, Howard!)

Overall, despite a 'messy' start, the R8 is the closest thing to the 'perfect camera' I've ever seen. It has a glorious finder, is superbly ergonomic, with every control falling just where you'd think it should be. Despite it's size (no bigger than an F5!) it fits your hand like a glove.

I have one of Doug's dearly beloved SL's and it hardly ever gets used. It's the back-up camera, in case the R8 should fail.

(I have to admit, I have a nasty fear of any microprocessor controlled camera, but so far my fears have been groundless! They seem to go on, forever!)

If the R8 has a flaw, it is the ridiculously engineered flash meter, though I understand that the internal TTL metering works flawlessly, for flash or fill flash with the proper SCA flash guns.
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David Young,     | égalité, liberté,
Victoria, CANADA | fraternité et Beaujolais.

Personal Web-site at:
        http://www.horizon.bc.ca/~dnr
Leica Reflex Forum web-page:
        http://www.horizon.bc.ca/~dnr/lrflex.htm

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