Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/02/26
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]>> Norman Goldberg's excellent book "Camera Technology - The Dark Side of >> the Lens" discusses this. ... >> "Leica M3(...): 17ms." ... >> "Minox 35 EL (...): 8ms" ... > >Thank you for the hard data.... >I am not sure, but what kind of shutter does the Minox have? FP or another >kind? If they are using a leaf shutter like the compur or prontor, then >the mass thast is being moved is considerably less than even the Leica. >Theefore the lag time should be less. As you suspect, the Minox has a spring tensioned, electronically timed leaf shutter, in the Compur/Prontor mold. >Please note that mass will directly affect the results... SLR's have a lot >going on, obviously more than a Leica M model. And SLR's may have more >massive shutters... I don't think there's anything more massive about SLR focal plane shutters than the Leica focal plane shutter. It's simply a matter of more additional machinery to operate. Leica's cloth focal plane shutter blades are more massive than, for instance, the titanium shutter blades of a Nikon FE2, which is one reason why the FE2's shutter can achieve 1/4000 second exposure times, even though it's operational lag time is probably triple to quadruple the Leica M. Actually, thinking about all of this, one of the reasons I like non-SLR cameras which I often forget comes back to mind. With an SLR, the subject is hidden from you for the shutter firing sequence: you cannot actually see the subject at the instant of exposure. Let's say an average SLR with a lag time of 120ms .... You see what you want and trip the shutter, the mirror swings up and almost 1/8 of a second later the shutter begins exposing film. You still have to wait through the exposure time (horizontal fp shutter approximately 13ms plus the shutter exposure time) and then another likely 120ms for the systems to all reset. That means your subject has been out of view for almost 1/4-1/3 second. A lot of facial expressions can happen in that time. A simpler camera (a Leica M, a Rollei 35, a Minox 35, etc) not only has less lag involved but you can see the subject all through the exposure process and know exactly what you've captured on film. This may account for the real reason why "street photography" and other candid portraiture is often easier to achieve with the Leica M and non-SLR cameras, not merely shutter lag considerations. It's a thought. I've done similar photography with all types of cameras and not really spent a great deal of thought as to whether I consistently get better results with one camera type rather than with a specific camera. Some cameras fit my hands and way of thinking better than others, and those are the ones that I tend to make my best pictures with. Godfrey