[rollei_list] Re: OT: Leica
- From: "Neil Gould" <neil@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:20:57 -0500
> From: Thor Legvold <tlegvold@xxxxxxx>
> Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:01:39 +0100
>
> Funny enough people have been arguing over Leica recently.
> I was in NY last week, and had Sunday off, so I wandered
around
> Riverside park with my Rolleiflex D. At one point an
elderly gentleman
> stopped to compliment me on my camera, and we ended up
talking for an
> hour or so. He had a Leica M6 with him, and asked me to
take his
> picture with it (and took mine with the Rollei).
>
> Never having used a Leica before (well, actually I did try
a friends R
> years ago, once), I was very impressed by the feel and
smoothness.
> Focusing was very easy, the lens helical was butter smooth
and the
> shutter firm but responsive. All in all it gave me a very
good
> impression. The display wasn't obvious (exposure meter
indicator), but
> I figured it out eventually.
>
> With that said, I can imagine the body alone costs a small
fortune,
> not to mention lenses for it. I was out shooting with my
Contax IIa
> today, and while it doesn't have as modern a feel as the
Leica did,
> I'm confident that the glass is at least on a par, if not
better
> (Zeiss Sonnar 50/1.5 and 85/2 used today). If helps that I
had Henry
> Scherer restore it to as new a while back....
>
> Anyway, I did get a positive impression of the camera. I'm
told that
> film loading is a holdover from the dark ages, but I
didn't go there.
> Just appreciated the feel of a well made camera.
>
> Just thought I'd share that with everyone :-)
>
> Cheers,
> Thor
>
Hi Thor,
After being a long-time user of Olympus OM-1 through OM-4
cameras, I bought a Leica R5 because it had rgonomics most
similar to the OM series, and the R5's functionally was only
somewhat behind the OM-4's technology. The Leica lenses are
what sets the camera apart from every other 35mm camera I've
owned or used. They are superb. Unfortunately, Leica has not
come around with a digital body for my R lenses (the DMR
being less than full frame is not an option that interested
me, and I'm also not interested in the compromises involved
in fitting the Leica lenses to other makes of bodies).
To bring the discussion closer to medium format, I have been
equally disappointed in a lack of a full-frame digital back
for my 6008i, which was one of the optimistic reasons that I
invested in that system (not that I am in the least
disappointed with its performance with film).
However, Leica has challenged the whole idea of medium
format digital with their new S2, and I have to say that if
money were no issue, I would probably go all-in on this one.
I've read many reviews of the new camera, and in some ways
this one, like the others, misses some of the history of MF
digital, but Farkas does a good job of talking up the
strengths of the S2 and the philosophy behind the new
lenses.
http://dfarkas.blogspot.com/2009/11/leica-s2-review-test-shooting-in.html
--
Best,
Neil
---
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