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Leica R9 - What is the camera REALLY like?


batmobile

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In fairness the Leica that was due to the tripod bush being longer than the ISO standard. From memory the tripod manufacturer paid for the repair and gave him a new tripod head.

 

So what. No point in creating unnecessary problems with thoughtless design. They changed it on the R9 which a is positive, and good. How much weight can you hang off your M8 tripod socket by the way?

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The camera is a real workhorse. It is most probably the best manual 35mm SLR camera ever made (with the Nikon F6 the best AF 35mm SLR camera). Some are complaining about ergonomics, but I have never understood this.

 

Pascal

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Even with Rob's exhaustive list of faults, there just isn't a better 35 film camera made. I now have 3 R8's. I had the R9, but like the R8 better. Just my style. I use one with my DMR, The other 2 have the full motor drive, so the form factor is identical to the DMR. I love the side grip strap & the whole rig feels perfect. The real reason to use this is the R Glass. The huge viewfinder is a portal to view the image through the world of Leica glass. You can't buy a better film camera. I have never had a complete failure. I can detach the motor drive very easily to use the small, light camera on it's own, but that hasn't happened in years. As the Commodore of the Royal Yacht Club told the Queen at the finish line of the first America's cup, where a small contingent of Americans defeated the Royals, "There's NO second."

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In fairness the Leica that was due to the tripod bush being longer than the ISO standard. From memory the tripod manufacturer paid for the repair and gave him a new tripod head.

 

They did.

 

The problem was with Manfrotto, not Leica.

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  • 1 month later...

I am still a film shooter and I bought a R8 second hand together with a 50 cron. I have never regret it. I use it a lot in the studio as well as outdoor. The body is quite heavy but that's what I like . The viewfinder is just a joy to use and it's easy to put the subject in focus. The lenses are among the best I've ever used (bought also a 90 cron + 35 cron). I just like this camera. As Leica has officially announced that the R-System will be discontinued, there are a lot of R8/R9 bodies as well as R lenses out in the second-hand market for quite interesting prices. The best is to go to a shop which has an R9/R8 to sell and try it out by shooting a film and you will see if it works for you.

 

Good luck,

 

Serge

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I use the R system (R3MOT) and wouldn't say anything bad about my camera or lenses, but is the focus direction thing such an issue? I have various cameras, they all focus different ways (including Nikons) and whilst I use the Leica's most of the time I've never had problems switching between systems.

 

The R6/6.2 is also worth a look, fully mechanical shutter, and as said above the R lenses have never been better value.

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  • 4 years later...

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I had the Leica R9 and the Nikon F6, with lenses for both. I sold the F6 and kept the R9. Ergonomics are wonderful, operation intuitive and smooth. Results really outstanding. Viewfinder the best I've ever seen on any camera, film or digital (and the F6 is no slouch). I dearly wish Leica had made an R9 with digital innards, like they did the M9.

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It is indeed a very good camera, but do note it is quite over-engineered. Nowadays, if anything should go wrong with it, it is quite likely that a repair will be uneconomical.

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With apologies to Neuer Benutzer, the Zone7 response listed above is from Stan Blevins. I'm not sure why the mix-up.

 

"Zone7" is the pen name you chose for yourself in this forum. "Neuer Benutzer" is German for "New User" and denotes your "status" here. Soon you will become an "Erfahrener Benutzer" (experienced user) and my status is given as "Moderator".

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