The quality of Leica M

[Marc James Small <msmall@roanoke.infi.net>]

To help new LUG member Olivier Guillemain put his concerns in perspective,
let me set out the following.

Rangefinder use is just different than SLR use:  I find an RF preferable,
while others do not.  But it is what I personally am most comfortable with.
A Leica M is a fast, efficient, means for me to take pictures:  it is a
simple, lightweight, flexible system which meets my needs to a tee.  Others
want other things, and their needs are met by other cameras.

On specific points:

metering:  I'm old enough to have trained myself to be a pretty fair judge
of light quality without having to resort to a meter.  I regularly shoot
slide film in my thread-mount Leicas and have no problem -- I work off the
sunny 16 rule and go from there.  Sure, I have an occasional dud exposure,
but that's hardly a major concern, as the vast majority are quite
acceptable.  I claim no special grace:  I'm sure Fred and Eric and a lot of
the other pros can do much better than can I at this.

shutter:  the accuracy of the Leica shutter is, well, incredible.  It is NOT
an electronically run or timed shutter, but, given that, its accuracy is
quite able to handle the needs of modern emulsions.

focusing speed:  especially in low light conditions, a Leica RF will be able
to outperform almost any autofocus SLR, as the SLR will be 'hunting' for the
acceptable focus, while the RF is able to be rapidly set without a lot of
trouble.

fast lenses:  even today, almost any single-focus-length (prime) lens will
outperform almost any variable-focus (zoom) lens in terms of sharpness,
contrast, and resolution:  if nothing else, the smaller number of elements
works to the advantage of the prime lens.  The Leica fast lenses (the 1.4
Summiluxes and 2.0 Summicrons) are light lenses of great ability and will
certainly blow away the standard f/4.0 to f/5.6 zoom which dominates today's
marketplace.

Hope this helps!

Marc

msmall@roanoke.infi.net  FAX:  +540/343-7315
Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!