Leica LEICINA Super RT1

[Max Swinton]

Hi, im new to the world of super 8, dont have a lot of money, and was wondering what sort of image quality this camera is capable of? If anyone has anything to say about this camera i would greatly appreciate it, thanks

[henry jameson]

If anyone has anything to say about this camera i would greatly appreciate it, thanks

I've got one and have filmed 6 carts up to now. Don't have anything to show you 'cos i'm still messing around with my diy telecine project but haven't had much time lately.

 

Pros:

-good steady image and quite sharp (but it's my first and only s8 camera so i don't have anything else to compare it to)

- bright viewfinder with split image focus that helps a lot

- lots of functions, from single frame up to 54fps, lap dissolves,etc. With the ST1 controller you can add even more features for time lapse etc.

- manual daylight filter, so you don't have to worry about cartridge notches. YOU decide if to use the filter or not.

- quite robust: outer casing is all metal

- quite cheap compared to bigger sister SPECIAL

- 25fps useful if you live in PAL countries

- NO cell battery for exposure, and auto exposure nearly always gets it right.

 

Cons:

- not very friendly from an ergonomic point of view. Handle retracts completly but is quite 'strange' to hold. You need to get used to it.

- You don't have fully manual exposure: you can Lock it once the camera has decided the F stop, and you can compensate +-1

- battery holder is a joke. I guess the engineers where too tired when they arrived at designing the power source so they invented a crappy plastic holder that seems to break everytime you insert/remove batteries.

- there's no numeric film counter. You get a different colour in viewfinder depeneding if you are at start of film (green), more or less middle (yellow) or near the end (red)

- a variable shutter would have been a nice feature... With 64T and 85 filter inserted you can easily get yourself in Low light situations

- no macro

[Nate Downes]

I have the older version of this camera,and it's lens is incredibly sharp,well worth it.

[andy oliver]

hi, great camera, sorta under-rated, lens is very sharp, especially wide open, better than my canon 814xls lens. Great and accurate auto exposure, camera can also read 64t, which is a major plus point. Agreed handgrip a little awkward, but you do get used to it.

[Dan Salzmann]

Good camera, not quite as sharp as my Leicina Special and lack of macro is a definite down side. The handgrips on both are very non-ergonomic (what were they thinking of?) but easy to ignore by using a separate hand grip.