Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/06/12
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]On Sun, 11 June 2000, Richard Urmonas wrote: > > I am looking for a SLR with manual settings etc. The Leicaflex or the SL or > SL2 seem to fit this requirement and also appear to be reasonably priced. At > the moment I would be leaning towards the Leicaflex (original) due to the > mirror lockup. TTL metering is not overly important as I am used to a manual > meter. Main uses would be for long lenses and closeup (but not macro) work. > > Has anyone used these cameras and be able to offer opinions on which is best, > reliability issues, what I should check when buying etc. etc. > > Richard. > Richard, The clear viewscreen of the original Leicaflex is very difficult to use with longer lenses, particularly long, slow lenses like the 400mm f/6.8 Telyt. This viewscreen also cannot be used to accurately gauge the effect of out-of-focus areas in the photo. There is a trick to pre-release the SL's mirror, which you can read about at: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/telyt/SL/HTM Last night my there was no film in my SL (a very rare occurance) so I played with this trick and it seems fairly reliable. The SL2 is much more scarce than the SL, and is priced accordingly. For work with long lenses or close-ups I prefer a viewscreen without the SL2's split-image focussing aid so IMHO the SL is a better bet for you. OTOH, some lenses cannot be used on the SL or original Leicaflex so if you plan to use any of those lenses, the SL2 is what you want. Doug Herr Sacramento http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/telyt ___________________________________________________ The ALL NEW CS2000 from CompuServe Better! Faster! More Powerful! 250 FREE hours! Sign-on Now! http://www.compuserve.com/trycsrv/cs2000/webmail/