The Konica Hexar RF implemented a vertically running shutter with integrated motor drive in the body shape of the M-camera and showed that a sprinkle of automation was feasible and attractive for M-photographers. The R8 is a clear example of a camera that was designed form scratch to incorporate a motor-driven transport, but here Leica hesitated to cross the line. Sometimes one would assume that Leica stayed too close to the manual directive. The technical development of the camera took a different direction when the industry introduced more and more electronic components into the camera that automated the basic photographic controls.įrom M3 to M7 Leica has carefully balanced on that dividing line between manual operation and automatic operation. But is also applicable to the photographic process, where precision implies a sharply focussed, well-exposed and well-framed photograph. This designation is usually interpreted as referring to the technical and manufacturing aspects of the camera. The Leica camera has always been designed as a precision tool. The Leica designers assumed with reason that photography is primarily a mental process with the camera an unobtrusive part of that process. The photographic style that has become possible with the M-camera is rooted in the seamless integration of the camera with the mind-hand-eye coordination necessary for creative and spontaneous imagery. These controls had to be laid-out as intuitively as possible. The Leica M3 was designed as a camera with full manual control of the main photographic parameters (focus of the lens and exposure setting by selecting a combination of shutter speed and aperture). You cannot pack a host of features into a compact body and it would violate the underlying design principles that have been the guideline for every M-model since 1954. Staying as close as possible to the M-concept sets limits and brings opportunities. The development team has been quite successful in the transmutation of the film-loading M7 into the CCD-based M8.
A 10Mp CCD-chip inside the body captures and transforms the images projected by the lens onto the sensor area in image files that can be manipulated by a suite of software programs. On the surface the M8 offers the design elements and the operative characteristics of the current M-line.
0 kommentar(er)
