RE: [Leica] And Now for Something Completely Different

[Adam Bridge <abridge@mac.com>]

On 2004-02-20 <bdcolen@earthlink.net (B. D. Colen)> thoughtfully wrote: 

>Actually, I read this "review" yesterday, and was about to post it. But
>then I realized that there is not one word about RESULTS - in fact,
>there is no real indication that Van Ripper actually USED the camera,
>just that he handled one. The entire thing is about how cool the camera
>is; how wonderful the retro controls are - which is pretty evident just
>looking at it. But there is NOTHING in this review to indicate that Van
>Ripper actually USED the camera and has images from it that he can
>compare to those from any other camera. Nor, if I'm not mistaken, is
>there a mention of the unfortunate fact that this Leica-like camera can
>only go up to 400 iso - which, it seems to me, defeats the whole idea of
>the M as an available darkness camera. ;-)

I think Mr. Van Ripper was reacting to the ergonomics of the camera - an area in
which digital cameras are notoriously lacking: they make early VCR's seem
trivial to operate.

I agree that I would have liked a thoughtful examination of the images the
camera produced. I suppose that, having read it, I came away feeling there were
no difficulties in that area although the ISO 400 limitation certainly makes it
less interesting to me. I assume, however, that one can pump the gain on the
camera through a menu setting, boosting it to an effective 800 or 1600. A report
that looks at those areas would be useful.

It's the electronic viewfinder that I don't like. While there are many useful
features that electronic viewfinders can give: over/under exposure indication
and a wealth of information, I've looked through enough video camera viewfinders
to know it just isn't the same as a range finder or an SLR - you're set back one
layer from the real image. I dislike that. 

So I'll be really interested to have someone get a camera, lug it around for a
few weeks, really USE that puppy, and share lots of images.

Hey...Leica....over here.... <grin>

Adam
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