Re: Mixing M and R's

[Jim Brick <jim@brick.org>]

At 06:59 AM 11/24/97 +0800, you wrote:
>Hello luggers,
>
>I'd first like to thank you to those who responded on my query regarding
>2nd body for the M6.
>Out of the blues, a friend suggested that I mix the M and the R cameras
>together. Something like this:
>
>Since I already have an M6 with a 35 & 50 lens, he recommended that for a
>2nd body I get an R6.2 or R8 and buy a 28/2.8 R and 90/2.0 R for it. He
>feels that wideangles & long lenses are best used w/ the slr ?
>
>Does anybody here have experience with this scenario ? Perhaps some
>comments and suggestions (pro's and cons) would be nice to hear.
>
>Again, many thanks for the support !
>
>Ferdinand

Ferdinand,

I usually don't participate in advising people as to what to buy in
photographic equipment. There are so many factors involved that it is
virtually impossible to extrapolate one persons way of working and needs,
over to another person. M and R cameras have different missions in life.
And that mission is tied closely to what kind of photographs the
photographer takes. What the end use is. Etc. Each of us can only tell you
what we individually do and why.

I'm an R user because I use lenses from 15mm to 350 + 2x = 700mm. I like
composing on a 2D ground glass (like MF and LF). I like seeing my depth of
field (DOF preview). My R cameras are on tripods 99% of the time. I use
polarizers, warming filters, and graduated nd and color filters. I also use
the 70-180 APO zoom. These last parts are very cumbersome (albeit nearly
impossible) on an M. And I like being totally familiar with a single
operating method. I don't do the type of photography that M cameras are
famous for.

I would not want to switch operating methods just because I had changed
lenses.

My single piece of advice is to, once you figure out what kind of
photography you want to do, outfit yourself with a comfortable set of tools
that allow you to accomplish this end. You may need more than one
photographic kit, if you pursue more than one photographic discipline.

I use an R7 and a bunch of lenses for book publications and photography
that an be easily handled with this equipment. I also use a Linhof 4X5
Master Technika for fine art (mostly landscape, high definition stuff)
where the image has to jump off of the print at 20x24 and larger.

Ferdinand, you'll have to be your own guide. Figure out what you want to
do, then figure out the best way to do it. Your way, will indeed, be your
way. Not my way, or anybody else's way.

Jim