Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/07/22

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Subject: Re: Some thoughts on the R8 ...
From: Donal Philby <donalphilby@earthlink.net>
Date: Tue, 22 Jul 1997 18:44:08 -0800

hmphoto wrote:
> 
> I use the EOS line of gear for my SLR system and am very pleased with it,
> however I find it somewhat ludicrous for someone to say one camera is far
> superior because it has more automatic features than another.  The
> improtant thing in the use of any camera is whether the person shooting
> with it is comfortable with the way it works and are they able to deliver
> the goods with it.  If yes to these two questions then any other
> arguments are moot.
> 
> While auto focus is improtant to you it is not so for everyone.

I have probably mentioned this before here, but here we go.  One of my
studio mates is one of the best surfing photographers in the world.   He
said that when he went from Nikon MF to AF Canon his average went from
10 frames a roll to 34 in focuswith 600mm.  He has since switched back
to Nikon for additional speed and better glass.  

The point is the AF is one feature.  I see flare control, sharpness,
quietness (especially M), weight and so on as other features. Just pick
what you need most.  Nikon doesn't have good flare control on lenses
(Ijust saw examples of this from a shoot last week with the Nikkor
80-200 of  backlit people and sun sparkles on water.  A brutal situation
for any lens.  The pix will work, but I''d like to see what they would
have looked like with the 70-180.

I didn't need AF, but I sure needed better flare control.

Donal Philby
Temporarily at Shasta Lake, California