Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/08/30
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Eric Welch wrote: > But there isn't any > problem hand-holding with any R camera if you ask me. I used to get > pictures with an R4 at 1/2 second hand held. Mind you, maybe 2 or 3 frames > in a roll of film would be very sharp. (If any, talk about indecisive > moments!) I did noticed an improvement between my R4 (and sP) cameras, and > the R7. It's much better than earlier models. Overall, I'd rate R cameras > pretty good at being vibration free. The R8 is great, especially with the > mirror-up mechanism. Eric, For once I would tend to agree with your message. I have never used a R setup in my life, but have used plenty of other SLRs. I find that most of the current offers are very smooth indeed: the mirror is much lighter than it used to be, the dampening systems have also evolved, the shutters are much smoother. Whoever the maker, so I suppose it should be true for Leica as well. This evolution is more evident with the all electronic offers than with the all mechanical ones (the FM2 for example is certainly not as well dampened as the F/N90). This does not mean there is no camera vibration or that one should feel free to shoot at 1/8 sec with a 180mmm without a tripod, but my experience leads me to believe user vibrations are these days much more of a limiting factor than camera induced vibrations, at usual magnification ratios. When I first started to use the M system, I kind of hoped that this 'vibration-free' camera would allow me immoderate freedom with slow shutter speeds. And I absused of f2 at 1/8 sec trials. Well, I never had as many blurred pictures due to camera shake. I know of course the shake comes from me. With a little more experience I found out that 1/15 sec is usable with all my M lenses but requires concentration with the 50 and 90, 1/8 sec or even 1/4 sec might be usable with wider lenses, but that means I would need to be absolutely stable myself, and that success is not guaranteed. I tend to believe that with the same focal lengths and the same degree of concentration, this is more or less achievable also with contemporary electronic SLRs. I would maybe say that the M system may have a 1 stop advantage here. To go back to the initial question, the speeds Francesco was using were very safe. His problem is not a tripod problem, it is a focusing problem. Which sounds very strange because a 100mm f2.8 is usually very easy to focus with any 35mm SLR.... Friendly regards Alan Brussels-belgium