On Oct 1, 2004, at 6:53 PM, Andrew L Wendelborn wrote:
>
>
> The usual advantages I guess -- smaller, lighter, quieter, more
> discreet,
> viewfinder doesn't go dark, no mirror flopping around etc etc.
>
> But not all RFs are created equal. There are wide variations in
> brightness,
> magnification factor, clarity of the focussing area and so on.
>
> For your low light situation, the focussing area is critical. You need
> to
> align images in a small part of the total viewing area, so it must be
> clear and
> well defined. Some RFs are excellent in that respect (L*ica M3 for
> example).
> Others are lousy (eg F*ji 645). IMHO the SPn, while not at M3
> standard, is
> pretty good.
>
>
> I found the SP easy to use at your stated low light condition of ISO
> 400 - f4 -
> 1/15s. At 2s it was still usable, but the 1n / 1-13 / 50f1.8
> combination
> somewhat easier. But that's rather dim light!
>
>
> There's also a wide range of personal preferences. Some people dislike
> microprism, others dislike the "image alignment" technique of RF.
>
>
> Personally, I think low light focussing is just plain difficult. I use
> the
> 55/1.2 if possible. Or some tricks, like focussing on something bright
> at
> what I judge to be the same distance. Or use a varimagni. Or hyperfocal
> focussing.
>
>
> But if you are hoping that the RD you mentioned might make things
> easier all
> round for low light work cf the 1n / 1-13, I don't think so. But if
> the RD is
> preferable for other reasons, most likely still usable in low light.
>
>
I sort of agree. You can compare the very best of both types of focus
systems, but many of the generalizations don't work depending on the
relative quality of the cameras. A Leica vs an OM1 will give the
advantage to the Leica from WA up to about 100mm. Above that the SLR
pulls away due to the magnification factor of the lens vs. the fixed
rangefinder base of the Leica. When you consider depth of field, the
strengths of slr focus is more useful in my opinion. My Mamiya 7 whose
rangefinder has a good rep is much more difficult to focus than an OM1
in dim light and its short rangefinder base makes the focus on the
longer lenses really dicey. The Leica's is bright and importantly uses
a very visible split image focus aid while the Mamiya uses a
superimposed image in a dimmer window. Even a Leica has problems with
focus on low contrast detail especially if moving like a river. The
ground glass on an SLR always works.
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