As for scary, I used to terrify the population with a Rolleiflex sporting the Rollei Grip and the Rolleimeter optical rangefinder, and the big silver release cable that fit into the pistol grip of the Rolleigrip. Now that was a camera from the planet Mongo! Bill Lawlor ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Young" <dnr@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <leicareflex@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, October 21, 2004 4:22 PM Subject: [LRFlex] Re: R8/9 - scary-looking or not? Noel Yates wrote: >> >>You are kidding right? ;-) And if you wished to make it less "scary >> looking" >> >>what would you do and still maintain it's in hand feel of comfort? > >To make the R8/9 less scary-looking? Well as one of our group pointed out >it's the function that's important not the look, so I may be completely >out of line, I have never done more than hold and look through an R8/9. I too, think the R8/9's are big and ugly... but I wouldn't trade my R8 for anything. I've never owned a camera (any make) that feels so good in the hand, with controls that feel 'right' and are right where you'd want them. When Xavier and I compared his R7 to my R8, he pointed out that the R8 has no noticeable mirror vibration. The R7 does! The R8 metering is more accurate than any camera I've owned... to the point where I put it on 'A' and simply keep an eye on the shutter speed, if the light is low. BTW: because I use ISO 400 film as normal (I use the 80~200/f4, 400/f6.8 and 21/4 most, so available apertures are limited) the 1/8000th shutter speed comes in very handy when using the 50 or 90 Summicrons on sunny days. One film does all! And for those who wish a smaller body, remember that a smaller prism = a dimmer finder. It's a fact of physics. As for heft, well the R8 balances so well with longer lenses that I have regularly got good results with the R8+400mm+2x converter. IF you think I'm kidding you, go to my site and check out the Wildlife section. Can you hand old a Canon T-90 with an 800mm f13? Yes, I'd like the few tweaks the R9 offers, and I'd like the lighter weight (specifically the different balance) of the R9, but at the price, the R8 will have to do! As for scary... well, maybe come Halloween! Cheers! ---------- 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 ------ Unsubscribe or change to/from Digest Mode at: www.horizon.bc.ca/~dnr/lrflex.htm Archives are at: www.freelists.org/archives/leicareflex/