Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/10/09

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Subject: [Leica] Photokina musings.
From: leicaluvr at comcast.net (Tom Schofield)
Date: Mon Oct 9 10:47:07 2006
References: <9b678e0610081704u44111feclee41f73c33e4233@mail.gmail.com> <4529BDAD.5090708@eth.net> <9b678e0610090413i4e143a3emc77ff930055f7769@mail.gmail.com>

Most of the most of the Bessa R3's were in the $600+/- range IIRC, or  
about $900 with a normalish lens.  Maybe that's where the 900 figure  
came from - with lens.

Tom Schofield


On Oct 9, 2006, at 4:13 AM, Don Dory wrote:

> Jayanand,
> Interesting, the price Stephen told me last week was higher.  Mr.  
> Kobyashi
> must have gotten better estimates from the factory floor after  
> Stephen came
> back.  Good news nonetheless.
>
> Don
> don.dory@gmail.com
>
>
> On 10/8/06, Jayanand Govindaraj <jgovindaraj@eth.net> wrote:
>>
>> Don,
>> According to Stephen Gandy - $649.
>> Cheers
>> Jayanand
>>
>> Don Dory wrote:
>>
>> > First, I think that the upcoming wide angle vewfinder  
>> Voigtlander is a
>> > really big deal.  The usual wide angle lenses showing without an
>> > accessory
>> > viewfinder will get me out of the Leica fold.  Price will be around
>> > $900 if
>> > memory serves.
>> >
>> > Second, lets get real about the viewfinder for the new Tri- 
>> Elmar.  It
>> > shows
>> > a very clear, very low distortion image with parallax compensation.
>> > It has
>> > good eye relief.  It is smaller than a MR meter that a lot of folks
>> used.
>> > No, it doesn't affect the balance of the camera, especially with  
>> the
>> > Tri-Elmar attached.  Please try before you complain.  The images I
>> > took with
>> > the pre-production Tri-Elmar at 16-18-21 looked pretty good to  
>> me wide
>> > open
>> > on my M6.  If it looks good full frame then it will look good on  
>> an M8.
>> >
>> > The folks at Leica were pretty sure that the shipping version of  
>> the
>> > firmware would come out on October 15th giving the good folks in  
>> Solms
>> > time
>> > to check, verify, and upload to shipping cameras.  And, based on  
>> the
>> many
>> > boxes of demo cameras sitting at the factory, they have a pretty  
>> good
>> > idea
>> > of what needs to happen.
>> >
>> > I will echo others that the display of all the Leica goodies  
>> glued to
>> > stands
>> > was great fun, was full all the time, and had some young folk  
>> looking
>> > very
>> > interested.  Between halls Leica had a riser set up with a good
>> > selection of
>> > cameras, lenses, and sport optics designed with a enough light and
>> > space so
>> > that you could really come to terms with the equipment.
>> >
>> > Zeiss is doing some really nice things for the M mount.  I had a
>> > chance to
>> > shoot with the Sonnar 1.5, the Biogon 21, and the Biogon 25.  I  
>> prefer
>> > the
>> > 50 Summilux ASPH to the Sonnar 1.5, but the Sonnar does a  
>> really, really
>> > good job of imaging with a pretty flat field, good rendition of  
>> fine
>> > detail,
>> > and good off center abilities.  I prefer the Summilux because it  
>> has
>> > better
>> > really fine detail capture, better contrast, and does better at  
>> really
>> > close
>> > distances; but you pay almost three times the price for that  
>> relatively
>> > small improvement.  The Biogon 21 is a winner and will probably  
>> find
>> > its way
>> > into my bag as the 21 SA won't image well on a digital.
>> >
>> > I used the 25 Biogon extensively as a fellow LHSA member loaned me
>> > his.  It
>> > is a very nice lens with good detail capture and I loved the 1/3
>> > stops.  But
>> > just like the 50, the 24 ASPH has a little more contrast, better
>> > capture of
>> > really fine detail, and a flatter field.  Again, not loads  
>> better, but
>> > noticeably better at a steep price.
>> >
>> > For the Pentax shooters out there, the new 10MP is a real  
>> winner.  Small
>> > changes to the controls but an improved finder and a very nice  
>> vertical
>> > grip.  With a price under $900 and acces to all those lovely lenses
>> > including the new Zeiss offerings it is mighty tempting.
>> >
>> > The new 50mm F1.2 Canon is an extremely well built lens that focus
>> > quickly.
>> > Image quality through the viewfinder is very good and field  
>> flatness is
>> > quite good.  Finally Canon has a good 50mm both optically and
>> > mechanically.
>> > Tina and Ted will love this lens as you can use 3200 ISO and 1.2.
>> >
>> > Sony is really building on the Alpha mount.  They were showing a  
>> good
>> > 70-200
>> > F2.8 and a 300 F2.8 both of which cover full frame images.  The 300
>> > was at
>> > least a re-design of the old Minolta lens.
>> >
>> > Olympus was showing an addition to their 4/3 system that was
>> proportioned
>> > more like a film camera than the other E series.  If memory  
>> serves it
>> was
>> > 10MP with a good viewfinder.  I am sorry to be so brief but the  
>> number
>> of
>> > cameras was small and the line was long, boisterous, and quite  
>> rude.
>> >
>> > Rollei offered a new IR film that did not need to be loaded in  
>> the dark.
>> > Not as grainy as Kodak's but a similar response to filtration and a
>> > similar
>> > tendency to halate.
>> >
>> > The real fun of walking all ten halls was seeing all the wierdness.
>> > Strange
>> > ball heads, software to fix any ill, models dressed as space aliens
>> > walking
>> > to break, tripods of all shapes, leg number, material, lock  
>> mechanism,
>> > half
>> > a hall filled with telescopes, half a hall filled with inkjet paper
>> > manufacturers and more to fill a book.  Unlike others, I will  
>> probably
>> go
>> > back for two days next time as the international efforts are a  
>> little
>> > more
>> > entertaining than at PMA.
>> >
>> > Don
>> > don.dory@gmail.com
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Leica Users Group.
>> > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more  
>> information
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>>
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>
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In reply to: Message from don.dory at gmail.com (Don Dory) ([Leica] Photokina musings.)
Message from jgovindaraj at eth.net (Jayanand Govindaraj) ([Leica] Photokina musings.)
Message from don.dory at gmail.com (Don Dory) ([Leica] Photokina musings.)