Re: Question about R series and 28-70 Vario-Elmar f/3.5-4.5

[pgs@thillana.lcs.mit.edu (Patrick Sobalvarro)]

   From: taroger@singnet.com.sg
   Date: Sat, 18 Jan 97 23:39:50 +0100

   I recently joined this list since I am an aspiring Leica owner. I have two 
   questions:

   1) It seems that most of the comments on this list refer to the M series and 
   not the R series. While the M series Leica's are certainly beautiful 
   machines, for the time being I think that I would be more comfortable using 
   an SLR system. Are the R bodies not considered true Leica's? I notice that 
   the R6.2 and R7 were apparently designed by Minolta but are built by Leica 
   (although the R8 is apparently a Leica design). Are the R6.2 and the R7 
   designed and manufactured up to the same quality standards as the M series?

I know a little about these things, mostly from having read books and
magazines about them (and from owning R-cameras).  The R6.2 and R7
weren't exactly designed by Minolta.  The chassis and film transport
of the R6.2 and R7 evolved directly from the R4, which shared a lot
with the Minolta XD-11 and, according to both companies, was the
product of "joint development."  If you handle an XD-11, you'll see
some strong similarities, and you'll see more if you open one up and
look at the film spools.  But there were some big differences.  The R4
had different electronics than the XD-11, built by the British defense
contractor Ferranti, and they were also less reliable initially than
the XD-11's electronics.  The mirror box was also different, having a
different (and supposedly better) mechanism for slowing the mirror so
that mirror shake wasn't as much a problem.

That was the R4, and it's been quite a few years since it was
introduced, and the cameras have only diverged more since then.  The
relationship between Minolta and Leica (then Leitz) changed, so that
they didn't develop any more cameras together.  Leica kept the chassis
design, and Minolta's cameras evolved more quickly.  Possibly Leica
still buys parts for the the R cameras from Minolta.  Certainly the
shutter in the R5 and R7 is a Japanese part, but made by Seiko, if I
remember correctly.  The R6.2 is a somewhat different kettle of fish,
in that it's all-mechanical, and its shutter, from what I've read, was
entirely a Leica design.  Both shutters are supposed to be pretty
durable, though -- qaccording to product literature, good for more
than 100,000 firings on average.

One fellow who used to post on this list a lot (Eric Welch, who was a
lot of fun) said that he'd heard from a repairman that the least
durable parts in the later R cameras were the film transport, which
comes directly from the R4/XD-11.  This wasn't to say that it wasn't
good, but just that it wasn't as good as say, a Nikon F4 film
transport.

According to the product literature, the R8 has an all-new film
transport, which sounds nicely made.

- -Patrick