[Leica] Electronic dependance

[Doug Herr <71247.3542@compuserve.com>]

Doug Herr wrote:
>>With dead batteries in an SL (or M6) I can bracket exposures; with dead
>>batteries in an R8 I can anchor a boat.

Eric Welch responded:
>As the boy scouts say, be prepared. More precision with a tiny bit of
>preparation, and minuscule extra weight to carry. Not a problem for me.

Eric (and Ted),

Not to disparage your choice of the R8, but the electronic dependance in
this camera is a real concern to many of us particularly when we read
several reports of the camera's electronics crashing and rendering the
camera as useful for photography as a brick.

Aside from the reliability concerns, I don't find the improved accuracy of
the electronically-timed shutter much of a benefit if I can only get
half-stop increments in manual modes.  I use manual exposure for the most
critical exposures and a 10% or 20% inaccurate shutter speed on a
mechanical camera will give me a more accurate exposure than the 25% error
which the electronic camera guarantees if the correct exposure is midway
between the available half-stop increments.  25% error is not a big deal
for most subjects on negative film but with chromes of very light or very
dark subjects correct exposure is much more critical.  In this case the
fact of the camera's electonic dependance isn't the issue, it's how the
manual exposure feature is implemented.  Considering the reliability and
manual-exposure accuracy issues, it will be a long time before I stop using
the SLs.

Doug Herr
Sacramento