Re: [Leica] BEST WISHES AND TWO QUESTIONS

["JeffS" <segawa@netone.com>]

Brian, maybe you should try a later model of R-series camera; in the brief
time I owned one, I found the R4S to be kind of flakey, though mine had been
purchased from a collector, and had been sitting idle for too long, so
electronic contacts probably were oxidized some.

I've recently gone digital in a small way, by having some of my Ektachrome
transparencies transferred to Master PhotoCD: There is definitely some loss
of detail in the shadows, though if I select an original which has no really
dark areas, it seems to work well.

There is also, of course, a certain amount of maintenance to be done with
any collection of digital images: Storage media deteriorates, file formats
become obsolete, etc! For now, I see digital as a way of expanding the
capabilities of my film-based originals, not as replacements.


Jeff Segawa
See my photography online at
http://www.netone.com/~segawa

- -----Original Message-----
From: Brian J. Given <bgiven@ccs.carleton.ca>
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Date: Monday, December 21, 1998 5:35 PM
Subject: [Leica] BEST WISHES AND TWO QUESTIONS


>Greetings from a new member and old Leica user!
>
>I have enjoyed lurking for the last week and want to wish you all a very
>Happy Holiday
>
>I would also like to ask your opinions regarding the reliability of R-4S's
>and the reproduction potential of the film scanners like the Nikon LS-2000
>
>1. I have not had very good luck with new Leicas. Years ago I bought two
new
>M-series to add to my M-3, M-2 and M-4.   Unfortunately I bought a pair of
>M4-2's which did not appear to equal my M-4 in quality of build and they
>certainly were not its equal in resale value.  I seem to have made the same
>mistake when I decided to trade the delights of M-series in for the
>practicality (for me that is .. I'm an anthropologist and some automaticity
>comes in handy!) of the R-series.  I traded for a pair of new R4-S bodies
>and collection of lenses. I am very happy with the optics (including the
>Minolta<G>) but have had some reliability problems with the bodies.  With
>only light amateur usage I have had to send in each body because the LED
>readouts went berserk - even with new batteries the LED's would show either
>top shutter speed or off the bottom of the scale with no gradation in
>between, rendering the body unusable.  I now am about to send in a body for
>the THIRD time for repair and am becoming discouraged.  Now I have NEVER
had
>a Japanese camera that needed repairs and, even when I was a professional
>photographer, rarely needed cameras repaired.  So this experience with the
>R4-S's is very unusual for me.  A couple of dealers have told me that the
>R-4's have had electronic reliability problems but the Leica distributor
>here says that this was only true for about 1000 R-4s in early production
>and never for the R4-S.  I don't know whether I should get rid the R4-S's
or
>not.  Ironically, I bought the R4-S instead of the R4 because I figured
that
>a simpler camera would be more reliable.  Is the distributor correct?<G!>
>
>2. I am looking at film scanners. I've tried the Nikon LS-2000 with some
>Kodachromes I shot with M-series equipment in India but am only just
>beginning to explore the limits.   I want to use this equipment for two
>purposes.   (a) I want to digitize the Kodachromes before they can fade
>further - i.e. I want to use CD's as a storage medium for digitized and
>therefore relatively permanent images. and (b) I want to replace my
darkroom
>with a digital "darkroom" and make all my prints using this medium IF I can
>get professional quality.  What I am not clear about is whether a 2700 dpi,
>12-bit scanner like the Nikon, used with Adobe Photoshop will be good
enough
>quality to replace my darkroom or whether I should wait until the next
>generation of scanner (perhaps 5400 dpi?) is available.  Does it make sense
>to go digital?
>
>Thanks everyone!
>
>Brian Given
>