Originally posted by: Aharami
Originally posted by: virtuamike
Very different viewing and shooting experience. It's elegance in refined simplicity. Plus you get to use Leica optics *drools*
Is it one of things where I have to use to understand it? How is the viewing and shooting experience different?
SLR, you look through the lens and you see slightly less of the scene than what will end up on film (unless you have a pro SLR)
rangefinder you look through a separate optical tunnel. the field of view of the finder is independent of the lens, and is usually much larger than what will appear on film. to show you what part of the finder will show up on film there are frame lines in the finder, usually selectable. this allows you to a) instantly know if there is a better composition b) anticipate stuff moving into and out of the frame.
in the middle of the finder is the rangefinder patch. basically, it works on triangulation. with a coupled rangefinder, changing the focus on the lens moves a tiny mirror in the body, which reflects over to the patch. when the images in the patch line up, you're focused.
because you're not looking through the lens, macro photography is practically impossible, and longer telephoto focal lengths also aren't useful (both are hard to focus).
rangefinders are typcially less intrusive than SLRs. as there is no mirror there is no mirror sound, or mirror slap. leicas traditionally used a cloth shutter which was very quiet. because there is no mirror slap a rangefinder can be hand held longer than the 1/focal length formula common for SLRs.
rangefinders also are better for wide angle, at least on film. SLRs, because of the mirror box, have a long register depth from the back of the lens to the film plane. rangefinders have no mirror box, so the lens can extend deep into the body of the rangefinder (it also makes a rangefinder thinner than a comparable SLR). this allows a wide angle lens to be made without retrofocal elements. so the lens has less distortion and other optical negatives. due to microlenses this isn't an advantage with digital cameras (an RF would vignette severely).
rangefinders, due to the lack of a mirror box, can be smaller and lighter than SLRs (though leicas are all metal so they're pretty damn heavy, probably brass rather than magnesium to boot).
the traditional advantages of leica, in particular, are extremely good optics and the build quality of a tank.
as for the point n' shoot comment, compact cameras of the 60s and 70s were all rangefinders.
RF basically led all the way until nippon kogaku debuted the nikon F in 1959. they might have continued to lead the market had nikon not debuted the whole system, lenses, flashes, metering finders, angle finders, everything, at the same time.
to address the question in the thread title, the point of the M8 is to separate money from wealthy people.
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