[Leica] Pradovit P150--very nice

[Charles Dunlap <cdunlap@es.UCSC.EDU>]

I just got my new Pradovit P150 projector in the mail yesterday. I got it
with the 90/2.5 Colorplan flat field lens. It is a very solidly built
projector, quite heavy for its size. The autofocus works well, and I was
particularly impressed with the design of the remote; it's an improvement
over the Kodak models. A big green button at the top advances the slide
with a quick push, and when held down longer it goes back to the previous
slide. It took almost one minute to get the hang of it and then I hit it
every time. I like it much better than the two Kodak buttons that are easy
to confuse in the dark.

But those are small pleasures compared to the quality of the projected
image. The colors were vibrant, the sharpness and contrast were excellent,
and the shadow detail was a revelation. I've projected these slides using
several different Kodak projectors and lenses (including a 100mm FF prime
non-zoom) and none of them showed me the level of detail that I saw last
night.

Considering that this projector+lens cost _less_ than the equivalent Kodak
projector, it's the obvious choice. 90% of the time I show slides I will be
able to bring my projector, for the other 10% I can transfer the slides to
a carousel. Compatibility is hardly an issue.

The only regret was that Leica USA was so evasive in their estimates of
when the projector would be available. It seems like a profound mystery to
them when and what they will receive in any particular shipment from
Germany. I suspect that the fault lies with both entities, but they need to
improve their customer relations when discussing product availability.

- -Charlie