[LRflex] Re: New Member

At 28/08/2006, you wrote:

>Hello
>
>Here are a few words of introduction from a new member. No so long ago I
>revived my interest in photography. While this rekindling of interest was
>stimulated by digital cameras - now based on a D200 - I found myself
>scanning and reprinting my old photographs on my computer with surprisingly
>pleasing results. I then started to accumulate film cameras at what I then
>considered bargain prices. Historically I was a Nikon man but I discarded my
>F5 and bought a mint F3HP and a mint F100. Then I made the mistake of
>walking into a local Leica shop when he had a mint M6TTL and 50mm 'cron ASPH
>- both chrome - I was hook in; I have the Leica bug real bad now. Two more
>bodies (IIIa and a black 0.68 M6TTL) and several lenses (3 being
>Voigtlanders) soon followed. A few weeks back that same shop had a nice
>clean SL2 for what I considered a good price. I snapped it up. I have since
>obtained a 2.8/35mm Elmarit and a 2.8/60mm Macro-Elmarit; both are 3-cam. I
>am still in the process of testing this kit but it is likely that the SL2
>will nudge out my F3HP. I clearly need to simplify my kit - though I will
>hate to sell any of my cameras. At the moment I am contemplating a Leica R
>body as that will give me more choices when hunting for lenses. Here I face
>a puzzle: I do not understand the prices asked for R bodies. The R6.2 seems
>to command a premium and R8s can be bought for relatively low prices. Is the
>R6.2 a superior camera in use to the R8 - or the R7 for that matter - or has
>this model become a focus for collectors? Are their R8 "lemons" out there
>spoiling that market? If so how do I spot them? The R8 seems a natural
>companion to the SL2 in that it opens up the option of R and ROM lenses and
>maybe, just maybe, a DMR! By the way, I loved David Young's "Rose with
>Emily" picture; the rendition of the child's skin is wonderful. My guess
>these questions have been well played out in the past so forgive a newbie
>raising them again.
>
>Chris Birchenhall
>Manchester, UK
>
>
>------


Good Mornin' Chris!

Welcome, as Doug says... to the nuthouse!

Actually, you'll find us a pretty good group.. polite, knowledgeable 
and always (always!) ready to help.

Like you, I was a Nikon man for some 20 years... then, also like you, 
I discovered Leicas and never went back!

By the time you read all the answers to your post, you'll have 
completed "Leica 101"!

Further musings:

I had an R3...large and fairly unreliable, though it took some great 
photos!  Later, I moved up to the R5 and R6 - found them a great 
combination, as the R6 was a joy to use, but the R5 was better when 
shooting kids, dogs and other stuff that was quick.  Auto exposure 
meant only having to set the aperture and focus!

Then, in a drunken fit (well, not quite) I dropped the R5 face down 
on a tile floor in Bangkok.  Didn't do it any favours.  So I replaced 
it with an R8. And later, replaced the R6 with an SL, which serves as 
an excellent backup to the R8, as the R5 did for the R6.

Early R8s suffered from some static problems and there was some 
mis-communication between the firm that built the Winder-R8 for Leica 
and Leica themselves.  Not sure just who was to blame, but the pins 
on the winder did not properly meet the rather deeply seated contacts 
on the bottom of the camera body.  Thus, when a Winder, Motor or 
later, the DMR was connected to the R8, it would usually fail, 
permanently locking the camera, even if the winder, etc., was then removed.

This problem affected only early German made models.  Later German 
units  and all the Portugese  versions are fine. (See: 
http://nemeng.com/leica/005c.shtml.)

Leica has had, as I think Doug mentioned, a policy that if an R8 is 
returned for any reason, it was fully updated.  My early German R8 
was done when, at two days of age, the (third party) strap failed and 
my new R8 hit the pavement.  It was fully updated, when the repair 
was done, and it has worked perfectly with both the winder and the DMR.

One caveat:  I understand that, at least in the USA,  Leica is now 
charging for this update, on used cameras, although it's still free 
for anyone with an R8 under warranty.  Not just sure of the price, 
but a quick call to Leica in the UK might be worth your 
time.   Either that, or simply be sure to buy a Portuguese made unit!

The R9 is an R8 with the bugs out, a top made of a lighter material, 
and a few internal electronic tweaks that have to do with the 
DMR.  For instance, with the R9 you turn the DMR off, the camera goes 
off.  You turn off the camera and the DMR goes off.  With the R8, you 
have to turn both off separately, though turning the R8 on also turns 
the DMR on.

The R8's go relatively cheaply, as their early reputation for 
compatibility problems (actual failures were rare) has not gone away 
like the problems have and because it's a fairly large camera. 
However, if you have large hands, it fits beautifully, and is the 
nicest camera to use that I've ever owned ... in any brand.  The 
finder is second only to the SL/SL2 and will blow nearly everything 
else out of the water.

Like Doug, all my lenses are 3-cam models... thus you can put them on 
everything from the SL, onwards. True, without the ROM, your Metz 
flash won't zoom properly (but only if you have the correct model) 
and the DMR won't record the focal length... though it does record 
f-stop and shutter speed.

For an easy to read, authoritative explanation of the 3 cams and 
their variants, see http://nemeng.com/leica/001c.shtml

And lastly... Thank you for your kind comments about my shot of Rose 
with Emily.  :-)

BTW: since your new, there is free web-space for Leica users 
available at: http://leica.free-silver.org/

Again, welcome!  I, and I'm sure many others, look forward to seeing 
some of your work.

Cheers!





---

David Young,
Logan Lake, CANADA

Wildlife Photographs: http://www.telyt.com/
Personal Web-pages: http://www3.telus.net/~telyt




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