rvaubel
Well-known
Jon Graham said:
What is this fixation about using AAA batteries that comes up all the time? I understand why one would want a camera that needed no batteries, but once your tethered to batteries, what difference does it really make which kind. I always carry a couple extra, and on a trip I never forget the charger. I mean I don't lose then or anything, so whats the big deal?
Just wondering
Rex
oftheherd
Veteran
gabrielma said:
I know you must have bee in a hurry, and just forgot to mention the legs or a powered locomotion device so it could come when you whistled. Right?
oftheherd
Veteran
Actually, coupled with an optical viewfinder, in emergency situations, the lcd wouldn't be needed. Of course, if it is an lcd in the viewfinder, that is a problem (I don't know which that camera has).
Actually, just for emergency shutter triggering, I think you are on to something.
Actually, just for emergency shutter triggering, I think you are on to something.
Ash
Selflessly Self-involved
just give it a siren that goes off after 10 minutes of non-use
Ajax
Jonathan Eastland
Leica M8
Leica M8
Greetings all,
Have read a little of the current (today) ramblings on the upcoming M8. Sadly I am under some legal obligation not to say anything, but the following observations may be of interest based on a recent hands on. A full review and possibly a book is in preparation.
First however, to go back in time.
Someone here (I think) said, maybe a year ago, that whatever Solms brings to market in the form of digital RF - 'it will not be a Leica as we know it.' whoever it was, got that absoloutely right.
I had a very recent opportunity to look at this new device in the company of current film models - a typical trade line-up. As I entered the room, my heart skipped a beat (tells you what a nutter I am.) in the expectation that finally those people responsible for design by committee may have got it right. Nothing about the rebadged Panasonics interested me; getting closer to the line-up, the heart skipping stopped. I was looking not at the M8 but a gleaming black enamel MP. Directly in front of it, the matt black and totally inconspicuous M8. This proved to be a heart stopping moment of despair. What had those people done. No lever, no knobs, nothing; zilch, nada, rien, nothing on the top plate and I knew more or less immediately that if I attempted to pick it up, it would probably slip from my hands. ( did eventually, without dropping it.) The conventional film lever advance on a Leica M is such a natural part of its handling pysche, no conscious thought is ever given to it. Here, we are informed, M8 users will be able to purchase the optional extra hand grip - there will not be too many options untaken. Every user will need it.
2mm thicker sounds not a lot; but you will see (eventually) that it looks like an MP which has had a satchel bomb thrown inside it.
The correspondent with inside information has been misinformed - partly - effective mp will be 10.3.
The really nice thing I like about the Epson RD1/1s is its sRGB colour space which seems to work well with all Leica, Nikkor et al glass. At least it gives the user an opprotunity to select an appropriate 'look' for the motif which is characteristic of the glass and ICC space combination. The coming new look is not to my taste, but then, I didn't approve of it on the R8/9 Digital Modul either - so it's going to be that subjective thing all over again. Either way, neither company have so far managed to replicate, emulate or approach the benchmark Kodachrome look. Still, that again is my subjective preference.
Considering price in the UK, one might expect, after final street discounts, a happy surprise for the body only, a tad more than say for a D2x body.
An interview with a beta user will appear in the BJP in about 3 weeks from now.
salaams
Leica M8
Greetings all,
Have read a little of the current (today) ramblings on the upcoming M8. Sadly I am under some legal obligation not to say anything, but the following observations may be of interest based on a recent hands on. A full review and possibly a book is in preparation.
First however, to go back in time.
Someone here (I think) said, maybe a year ago, that whatever Solms brings to market in the form of digital RF - 'it will not be a Leica as we know it.' whoever it was, got that absoloutely right.
I had a very recent opportunity to look at this new device in the company of current film models - a typical trade line-up. As I entered the room, my heart skipped a beat (tells you what a nutter I am.) in the expectation that finally those people responsible for design by committee may have got it right. Nothing about the rebadged Panasonics interested me; getting closer to the line-up, the heart skipping stopped. I was looking not at the M8 but a gleaming black enamel MP. Directly in front of it, the matt black and totally inconspicuous M8. This proved to be a heart stopping moment of despair. What had those people done. No lever, no knobs, nothing; zilch, nada, rien, nothing on the top plate and I knew more or less immediately that if I attempted to pick it up, it would probably slip from my hands. ( did eventually, without dropping it.) The conventional film lever advance on a Leica M is such a natural part of its handling pysche, no conscious thought is ever given to it. Here, we are informed, M8 users will be able to purchase the optional extra hand grip - there will not be too many options untaken. Every user will need it.
2mm thicker sounds not a lot; but you will see (eventually) that it looks like an MP which has had a satchel bomb thrown inside it.
The correspondent with inside information has been misinformed - partly - effective mp will be 10.3.
The really nice thing I like about the Epson RD1/1s is its sRGB colour space which seems to work well with all Leica, Nikkor et al glass. At least it gives the user an opprotunity to select an appropriate 'look' for the motif which is characteristic of the glass and ICC space combination. The coming new look is not to my taste, but then, I didn't approve of it on the R8/9 Digital Modul either - so it's going to be that subjective thing all over again. Either way, neither company have so far managed to replicate, emulate or approach the benchmark Kodachrome look. Still, that again is my subjective preference.
Considering price in the UK, one might expect, after final street discounts, a happy surprise for the body only, a tad more than say for a D2x body.
An interview with a beta user will appear in the BJP in about 3 weeks from now.
salaams
James Brannan
Established
I don't share that fixation but will take a stab at a guess. Some people have a fear of being in a remote location, having a battery die, not having a backup, and then the only local batteries available being AAA. Honestly I use DSLR's and can kill a battery in the course of a day. I just don't think it's a big deal to carry one extra. It's like film. Do you travel without extra film? Even if you have an older RF that uses cells for metering only that seemingly last forever, do you travel to remote locations or important shoots without even one spare?rvaubel said:
James Brannan
Established
Brilliant. I was looking thru the thread to see if anyone else was going to suggest this.dogless said:
ywenz
Veteran
I think the M8 should have a battery warning feature that always beeps when the battery is good, and stops beeping when the battery is low or has died.. This way, you'll always know when it's safe to go out shooting w/o a backup battery.
Nachkebia
Well-known
No beeping and fancy joystick`s with glowing buttons please, also no games installed for free time
Mark Norton
Well-known
Ajax, don't know who you are, don't care, but you sound like a luddite to me.
Terao
Kiloran
Mark Norton said:
I thought we all were
My father certainly is, yet he was able to pick up my R-D1 and be amazed how simple it was to use. Would never go near my DSLRs...
rvaubel
Well-known
Mark Norton said:
When it comes to operating any gadget, the Luddite principle should prevail.
If it takes more than 5 minutes for the average person to learn how to operate it, the designer should be shot.
There is no reason for a cell phone to reguire a 100 page instuction book to make a phone call. Nothing more than industrial designer masturbation.
But can it play "doom"?
Rex
ywenz
Veteran
rvaubel said:
intuitiveness of the gadgetry and the intelligence of the operator goes hand in hand
Ash
Selflessly Self-involved
my ipod can play doom... but it took an hour of messing about with ipodlinux, and my Gen-3 20gb's screen is sooo shot its not worth the effort after all
rxmd
May contain traces of nut
Makes the industrial and UI designer position seem kind of unattractive nowadays.
Philipp
Whorehay
Hello. My name is _____.
rvaubel said:
actually, i think he is talking about those kinetic watches that charge from your movements (swinging your arm while walking, etc.). seiko has a line of those kinetic watches.
rvaubel
Well-known
Whorehay said:
The "automatic" watch of today is what we used to call "self winding" in the olden days. Basically an automatic or selfwinding watch is a totally mechanical watch that winds itself by the motion of the arm moving an eccentric weight that winds a spring. If you apply this same winding principle to an electronic watch to charge a battery, it is called a "kinetic" watch.
A self charging M8 would be possible thru the wind-on lever but only about 4 people in the world would think it was cool.
I, unfortunetly for my wife, am one of them
Rex