Wim Wenders & Leica M8
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- forcetwelve0
thats nice.
- kalkal0
Same same fucking huge price...
One day. Yes, one day.
- uberdesigner0
how much do they cost?
- kalkal0
About half price in the US too! If I ever get one, it'll be imported from the US
- uberdesigner0
that's a lot of dough for what it is
- scribbler0
Look at this spec. You could get a similar Nikon or Canon for about £300. Sure it's a beautiful camera but no way worth that much. I'd much rather spend my money on a bag of lenses.
General
Camera Type DSLR
Sensor Type CCD
Sensor Size 27 X 18 mm
Effective Megapixels 10.3
Exposure & Shutter Control
Min. ISO Sensitivity 160
Max. ISO Sensitivity 2500
Min. Shutter Speed 32 sec
Max. Shutter Speed 1/8000 sec
Continuous Burst Speed 2 fps
Maximum Shots / Burst up to 10 frames
LCD
LCD Size 2.5 inch
LCD Resolution 230 k pixels
Live View NO
Storage
Memory Card Type SD Card
Internal Memory - Mb
Dimensions
Size 139 X 37 X 80 mm
Weight 545 g
Camera Features
Image Stabilization NO
Sensor Cleaning YES
Tilt / Flip Screen NO
Face Dectection NO
- Horp0
^ Its a Rangefinder though, and unless you've actually shot with a rangefinder you wont really apprciate the difference.
- scribbler0
I haven't shot with a rangefinder but surely it can't be that much better to warrant a £4K price tag!
- digdre0
what is a rangefinder
- kalkal0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ran…
A rangefinder camera is a camera fitted with a rangefinder: a range-finding focusing mechanism allowing the photographer to measure the subject distance and take photographs that are in sharp focus. Most varieties of rangefinder show two images of the same subject, one of which moves when a calibrated wheel is turned; when the two images coincide and fuse into one, the distance can be read off the wheel. Older, non-coupled rangefinder cameras display the focusing distance and require the photographer to transfer the value to the lens focus ring; cameras without built-in rangefinders could have an external rangefinder fitted into the accessory shoe. Earlier cameras of this type had separate viewfinder and rangefinder windows; later the rangefinder was incorporated into the viewfinder. More modern designs have rangefinders coupled to the focusing mechanism, so that the lens is focused correctly when the rangefinder images fuse.
- Horp0
It is. Its a fundamentally different approach to picture taking. Its also a more precise camera. With an SLR the lens is set away from the film or sensor to accomodate the viewfinder prism. So the lens projects back a softer image. In a rangefinder its almost a direct contact translation from lens to plate. Also, you don't have to wait for the clunk mechanics to move the prism out of the way to take the shot, so its quicker, and quieter.
In a rangefinder, you see the real world through the range finder, not a small distort-to-fit view like you get on an SLR, so sense of composition is enhanced. This means you shoot with two eyes open. One looking through the Rangefinder to see the crop, and the other looking naturally past the bod of the camera to see the real world. So you the user is much faster and more flexible at making instant framing decisions. You see a good area around the framed image too in the Rangefinder window, so again, adjustments to your chosen framing of the shot are intuitive and immediate.
You get no lag with a Rangefinder. None at all. How many times with a digital have you seen something happen and by the time your shutter has woken up its long gone. With a Rangefinder, you see it, hit the button, and whatever happened when you hit the button - that's what you took a picture of.
- scribbler0
I've got an old rangefinder downstairs, haven't got round to using it yet, I should have a go cos this all sounds neat. Do you shoot with a rangefinder Horp?
- Horp0
I have one, but I haven't really had much time to use it so I wouldn't say I was a rangefinder veteran. I hope to use it more when I get the chance, it does take awesome photographs that look like a Magnum photographer's work.
I went into a shop with a mad dizzy desire to buy the Leica M8 about two years ago. For some odd reason, the Leica specialist recommended that I buy instead a much cheaper camera that I had never heard of... the RD1 from Epson Cosina. I think he sensed that I was about to throw about 4k down on the counter in a mad frenzy and buy something I didn't understand which I would then bring back to the shop for a refund... I don't know, but anyway he sold me a Leica 50mm lens and the RD1 and once I'd figured out how to use it it was just incredible.
Now though I really want to swap it up for the M8, although I have a hard time justifying that to myself considering I don't even get to use it very often.
The RD1 has an amazing feature that the M8 doesn't though. It has a manually cocking shutter, so you have a physical wind-on lever like ona film camera. This is great for pacing your shots and establishing a rhthym, but it also means that the RD1 is entirely mechanical. The only digital part is the sensor. Everything else is exactly as a film camera. So I can take a shot on my RD1 even with a flat battery!
- kalkal0
I bought a cheap russian rangefinder on ebay and it came to peices before I even got the chance to use it.
- kalkal0
On that note, what would be a half decent cheap rangefinder to invest in?
- Horp0
^ Digital, there's only two: RD1 if you can find it which is hard now (its a cult classic as they only made about 5000 so highly collectible) or an M8.
A good cheap Rangefinder on the film side though.... look at the Voigtlander range. Made my Kobayashi of Japan who is a camera designer for most of the big professional camera brands. Its a good sturdy and reasonably priced camera. Its look great too and there are billions of lenses you can fit to it. There is a huge range of Voigtlander Rangefinders though and I don't know a thing about them individually so I can't recommend one in particular.
I wish Voigtlander would do a digital one = (
- The Voigtlander Bessa R is the one most people recommen.Horp
- This page shows you how close a Voigtlander is to a Leica
http://www.cameraque…Horp - RD1
http://shutterbug.co…Horp
- kalkal0
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/voigtlande…
Yes no yes no? Isn't that medium format? I don't care, I'm feeling impulsive and have 20 mins to buy it