[Leica] About Easing into LeiCanon Photography

[leicar at q.com (Aram Langhans)]

It is a mixed bag at best.  I have a Rebel XTi and the viewfinder is truly 
pathetic after using the R8 for many years.  I bought the Nikon eyepiece 
magnifier and that helps tremendously.  I think the current Rebel has a 
slightly better viewfinder.  The D series is definately an improvement.
 
I use a FC adapter and it works fairly well.  Focus wide open then stop down 
to whatever you choose.  The real problem comes when you stop down.  I shoot 
in either Aperture priority or Manual exposure.  When you meter with the 
lens wide open it is dead on for exposure.  As you stop down, the exposure 
starts to change - overexpose.  The more you stop down the more overexposure 
you experience.  It does not matter what the wide open f-stop of the lens 
is, so you can't just say "at f-5.6 I need to under expose 2/3 stops".  You 
can say" I stopped the lens down two full stops so I need to under expose 
2/3 stops".  Sometimes, to get a long exposure for a stream, I stop down all 
the way.  The best way to do that is to meter wide open in manual mode then 
count.  Lens 5 stops, shutter 5 stops.  That works all the time, but is not 
very fast.  Of course, when you are exposing something for 1/2 second or so, 
speed of operation is usually not a problem.  I think this expousre problem 
is pretty universal for all the Canon bodies and even Olympus (I think).  
 
So, if I need to shoot rapidly, I use a lens made for the Canon, but 
otherwise I use Leica glass.  The 100 APO is amazing on digital.  I would 
think it would be even more amazing on a DMR, but I don't own one of those.  
Wish the camear reset the +/- override when you turned it off to change 
lenses.  I am always forgetting to set it to null when I put a Canon lens on 
it.  My wife's Olympus 410 resets the +/- to null when the camera is 
switched off.  Nice feature.
 
Hoping in September I hear news from Leica that will allow me to use my 
current glass as it was intended on a digital body about R8 size or less.
 
Aram
 
 
> Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:56:19 +0000> From: grduprey@mchsi.com> Subject: 
> Re: [Leica] About Easing into LeiCanon Photography> To: Leica Users Group 
> <lug@leica-users.org>> Message-ID:> 
> <072220081856.25627.48862D5300007EE60000641B219792676103010CD2079C080C03BF970A9D9F9A0B9D09@mchsi.com>>
>  > > I have a 20D that I use with R glass. I have no Canon glass, and do 
> not intend on buying any either. I have found that the 20D works pretty 
> well with normal and tele glass, but not so much with WA lenses , unless 
> you get the focus confirm adapters, and even then they are still hard to 
> use., so I use it with the 60 and longer lenses 100% of the time.> > Gene> 
> > -------------- Original message ----------------------> From: Nathan 
> Wajsman <photo@frozenlight.eu>> >> > It all depends on the quality of the 
> viewfinder, so you really need to > > know which Rebel it is. I believe 
> that some of the improvements from > > one generation to the next was 
> precisely in this area.> > > > When I first got into digital photography 
> with a Canon 20D, I too > > intended to use my Leica R lenses on it. But 
> over time I ended up > > buying Canon lenses instead. It was just too 
> tempting...I mean, the > > body has AF, the Canon L glass is pretty good 
> etc. Now that I shoot > > Olympus, I use one Olympus lens (the 12-60mm), 
> one PanaLeica (the > > 1.4/25mm) and one real Leica (the 100mm Apo Macro). 
> The manual > > focusing with the 100mm is pretty easy because my Oly E3 
> has a good > > viewfinder, and of course it is inherently easier to focus 
> a long lens.> > > > One word about the adapters. I have tried the cheaper 
> ones in the past > > and found them to be junk. I now stick to the ones 
> made by Stephen > > Gandy (www.cameraquest.com).> > > > Nathan> >