[Leica] Solms

[firkin@netconnect.com.au (Alastair Firkin)]

Dear LUGNUTS,

Well no matter how you look at it, the recent reports of faulty R8 bodies
and "filthy" lenes makes one nervous. I have decided not to join the
passport owners, but stick to my tried and true method of dealing with
second hand gear. I have always done this for the savings [and to avoid
sales tax] and the dealers almost seem to prefer it [presume the margin on
new gear is as lousy here in OZ as anywhere else] but now there is the
inspection option.

I cannot speak for other places, but here the 'new' stuff appears almost
immediately in the dealers as second-hand or demo. I have always assumed,
that it was from people travelling to Japan and bringing back 3 bodies in
order to pay for their one, but maybe this boat load of Mr Solms' finest is
infact Ian Stanleys rejects, recycled. None the less, they have been given
the mandatory quality control done by you brave and intrepid buyers, who
have pointed out the faults, and sent the cameras on to me via Solms. So my
decision to go with the R7 looks sound, and if I want to venture into the
R8 the demo route looks the safest - no boost to the Tokyo economy from
Leica sales in April it seems :-(, but so far I've not seen a "demo" 35-70,
70-200, 70-180 and 105-280 on the shelves - perhaps Kyocera's QC is just
too good ;-)

Here's hoping that you will all soon have better fortunes to relate to the
group. I find the recent threads quite disquietening. So onto the real
point of this ramble;
Many times we refer to the Leica Camera Company as Solms, this I've
discovered [whilst using my Leica Z2X is a metonymy

       >(Greek: "change of name," or "misnomer"), figure of speech in which
the name of an object or concept is replaced with a word closely related to
or suggested
by the original, as "crown" for "king" ("The power of the crown was
mortally weakened") or an author for his works ("I'm studying
Shakespeare"). A familiar
Shakespearean example is Mark Antony's speech in Julius Caesar in which he
asks of his audience: "Lend me your ears."<

How does the Z2X come in? Last week I attended a 40th birthday party as
"Marc Antony" carrying a sack [of ears ;-)] and took pictures of the guests
with my Rollei 3003 and the Z2X. I can now report, that my manual
guesstimate focus outperformed the Z2X, but only marginally.

Any of you thinking about or using this neat little PS Leica [which to my
knowledge has had no bad QC press and Steffi Graff to boot] should be aware
that it has a few focus problems when used vertically, and that fingers
seem destined to obscure the viewing ports of the various auto bits
[exposure and flash]. Focus in the horizontal frame, hold the focus, turn
the camera, get your hands away from the front centre of the camera and
fire, and you will have no problems.

The flash is a powerhouse, and blinds the natives more so than my Sunpac on
the 3003, but using it sure sucks the power so come prepared with spare
batteries if you intend running too many rolls through. I've already
reported how happy I am with the Z2X's flash balance both as the primary
source of light and also in fill-in mode.

Quality? Well the 3003 with the 50 Planar did outperform the small zoom,
but for action on the dance floor, the palm sized and quick fire PS was a
great tool to capture the moment, and I came away with a series of happy
party shots which will rival more formal portrait shoots. I have to thank
the group for helping train me in distance estimation, and in culling the
resultant prints before my host saw them. She now thinks that every shot I
take is a winner ;-) My success rate [from 75 shots] was 95% technically OK
90% good party shots and 75% very good natural portrait images and 15% that
I would classify as "winners". Party shooting has always been one of my
"limited" strengths.

Cheers and cheer-up ;-)

Alastair Firkin,

http://users.netconnect.com.au/~firkin/AGFhmpg.html