Leica R8... Just amazing!

Lazzaros

Lazzaros

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Ivo Lázaro
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Thanks to Tony I got an amazing "Made in Portugal" Leica R8. It came with one Vario-Elmar-R 28-70mm f/3.5-4.5

I really loved the camera. One of the most beautiful cameras I ever had. (Maybe side to side with my Contax 645 :))

leica02.jpg


leica03.jpg




Tomorrow I'll do the first test with Neopan Acros 100, shooting one musician friend...
 
I have to be honest... Usually I take many time to shoot and develop the film. I personally like that time between the the moment I shoot and the moment I develop. Then I have some surprises because I forgot many photographs and it's cool to see them some time after I take them...

:)
 
that really is a beautiful bit of engineering (y)
 
I've never experienced a smoother mechanism for a winder and shutter release than on my old R5.
But I never understood why the R8 suddenly got so bulky over the older models.
 
R8 had a completely new shutter and able to sync high and also incorporates more electronics compared to R7 and earlier models.

lovely build quality, best get some prime lenses if you want some even more stunning good sharp pictures
 
I'm lookinf for some prime lenses, specially Summicron-R 50/2 and Summicron-R 35/2.

Unfortunally the ROM version is too expensive so I have to search for E55 3Cam version...

I like big cameras. I'm looking for motor-drive to get it bigger! :D
 
never quite understood the leica draw - what are the benefits over the pro canon and nikkon kits
 
Sheridant, the short answer to that is : if you have not used a Leica, you won't. And if have, and still not get it, clearly you never will...:)


Laz : MWclassic has a 35mm ( I think 3 cam) They are usually well priced and reliable. I'll let you know if I spot a 50 chron somewhere
 
I'm allways looking on *bay... I already had the 50mm and 35mm to use on my Canon but at that time I only had the Minilux and I had 11 Carl Zeiss lenses so I sold them...

Now I sold some Zeiss lenses (and selling some bodies yet) and I bought the R8 with the 28-70...

I'm not hurry to get new lenses... But I like prime lenses more than zooms.


I bought one Hasselblad 500EL/M today too so I'm poor right now...

I forgot I bought 50 135mm films today too... :D
 
I went to MWclassic website. The Summicron they have is 2Cam. I have more than 320 contacts from photographers, and friends that could get some equipment so I'll wait to see if something appears...

I sell a lot of stuff too so I could get some nice trade or something (did I tell I'm poor right now? :D)
 
Laz..get me a 500 blad, please. I need my fix after selling my other equipments....( I mean it, seriously)
 
There was a long thread about the M9, and whether it was "worth it", recently. There is a bit of a mystique about Leicas, they're beautifully made and the lenses are wonderful, but I think its a personal thing, not something you can argue about logically.

I've never owned a Leica camera, but I do have a pair of their compact binoculars that I bought in SA when I had some spare cash. They're light and well made, with excellent optics and punch well above their weight in poor light (which they're not designed for), but are they really that much better than my Bushnells that cost 20% of the price? Logically no, for me, yes.
 
I understand that "personal" taste about Leica... Before I get one I thought they are too expensive etc... But after my first Summicron-R working on one Canon 400D I change my opinion...

Look at this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lazzarosphotography/3236150093/

That's an amazing performance. The neck colar looks poping up (I don't know if I'm saying this correctly. Sorry my english...)

You have more examples with the same lens and model. I printed 3 of that pictures (the square composition is somekind of a big crop) 35x35cm and I was affraid I got them pixelized or without sharp, etc...

When I saw the prints I became amazed... The simple Canon 400D did a great job but the lens helped a lot...

:) Now I'm an happy owner of that R8 and I can't wait to see the results...
 
I have to agree with the poster above who says its more a personal taste than anything else these days. Years ago Leica were way ahead of the game, but canon and nikon have easily matched them since in terms of image quality. Saying that, for some work, such as documentary, candid or street photography, the Leica rangefinder might be a camera of choice due to its quiet shutter and small size, as well as small weight. There is a high level of snobbery about them too even among Leica users, I dont deny that. I met a guy in the street the other day shooting with an M9, and he looked at my M6 as if I was a joke. I think his words were "for f**ck sake, will you get with the digital age"
 
Unfortunally many "rich" people like to buy Leica just to say they got it...

But I'm lucky to say I bought Leica because I love photography! Before I bought the first Leica I already loved photography but when I get one of this in my hands I feel all the history they have and I think to myself I have to get the best photograph possible.

By the ***, I think that with my Contax RTSIII or Contax 645 too...and even with my Takumar 55mm...

It's different when I'm using one piece of history and have to think the best way to use it. I don't know who were the previous owners and their photographs but I have to be sure my photographs will be great!

:)

(a little bit utopic I know haha)
 
There is snobbery everywhere in the photography world. One mans love is another mans snobbery

Digital pro camera users have the same snobbery - how many of them really need it? How many of them even bother to learn how to use all the menus and buttons that the cameras provide for? And yet they pay large sums to buy it ; and compared to a Leica, its doesn't even hold the value.

I find most Leica users actually like using the camera ( and some dont - like I didn't like the feel of R4, so sold it - but love the CL), and they can pay for it, so they buy it. People who dont/cant have Leica, it would seem are more bothered by it.

Its people who dont own it that are in the eternal search of the answer : why Leica. Those who own it, know the answer :p:p
 
ujjwaldey8165 said:
Sheridant, the short answer to that is : if you have not used a Leica, you won't. And if have, and still not get it, clearly you never will...:)
Click to expand...

I have to agree.
I've only used a Leica once (M series, not the R8). But the quality is just something else again!
 
Leica, the best prime lenses ever. Enough said
 
Yesterday I did a walk in Lisbon with my girlfriend and I took the R8 with me...

What a felling...

It's amazing to use it. The shutter noise is great ahah :D
 
Aha... Only just spotted this....

Nice to see my old R8 is getting the use it deserves (y) It really is a superb camera and chances are I'll end up with another one, one day.

I was very much in two minds whether to sell it or not, just a case of needing the money for other things at the moment.. i.e paying for a 1D MKIII !!

I'll look forward to seeing some results :D
 
dylan36 said:
I have to agree with the poster above who says its more a personal taste than anything else these days. Years ago Leica were way ahead of the game, but canon and nikon have easily matched them since in terms of image quality. Saying that, for some work, such as documentary, candid or street photography, the Leica rangefinder might be a camera of choice due to its quiet shutter and small size, as well as small weight. There is a high level of snobbery about them too even among Leica users, I dont deny that. I met a guy in the street the other day shooting with an M9, and he looked at my M6 as if I was a joke. I think his words were "for f**ck sake, will you get with the digital age"
Click to expand...

I must be a dinosaur then, I still own and use an M3 now and then...
 
That is quite simply gorgeous!!

Look forward to seeing the output...

Cheers
 
I'm curious to see the performance of this lens too...

Can't wait to end this film. I don't like to "fire" at all directions only to end it so I have to wait a little more time until I send it to develop :D
 
Bought the Motor-Drive today! It will be the most beautiful camera I ever had for sure :D

It would be cool to get the motor too. Many times I forgot to use the lever and I lost "that moment".
 
Thats interesting Ivo. Out of habit, i always wind and keep my camera cocked.

Just personal perference I guess
 
To be honest I'm very new in film. My course was totally digital and I start loving film after I used manual focus lenses on my DSLR body.

Then I started using film cameras and now I love them.

I like the feeling of the lever but I forgot it many times... Out of habit I think :)
 
Lazzaros said:
To be honest I'm very new in film. My course was totally digital and I start loving film after I used manual focus lenses on my DSLR body.

Then I started using film cameras and now I love them.

I like the feeling of the lever but I forgot it many times... Out of habit I think :)
Click to expand...

Sure. I often reached for the wind on lever on my only 35mm compact - which had auto film advance - and on my digital cameras at first, and my son thought there was something wrong with my DSLR the first time he handled it, because he couldn't see the image on the LCD screen.
 
MartynK said:
On my digital cameras at first, and my son thought there was something wrong with my DSLR the first time he handled it, because he couldn't see the image on the LCD screen.
Click to expand...

Reminds me of the time i got my F4 out on holiday a few years back and one of my daughters turned to me after I took a picture and said
"Let me see what it looks like daddy" they seem to prefer my D300s
 
Lazzaros said:
To be honest I'm very new in film. My course was totally digital and I start loving film after I used manual focus lenses on my DSLR body.

Then I started using film cameras and now I love them.

I like the feeling of the lever but I forgot it many times... Out of habit I think :)
Click to expand...

get a kiev, you can only see through if the shutter is cocked (non return mirror), the number of shots I've lost to darkslides though :bang:
 
David I have one Hasselblad (and had another one) and I know how it is.

Yesterday I was becoming furious because I cound't fire the shutter....Then...I remembered: Darkslide on!

This would be a process that will become natural with the time...
 
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