Re: [Leica] Ramblings

[Dave Munroe <dmunroe@vcd.hp.com>]

Jeff S wrote:

> Here, in an easy-to-delete, bandwidth-conserving form, are a number of
> Leica-related thoughts I've had


A great article, Jeff, spot-on!


> To Bracket Or Not To Bracket?
> Film is cheap--or is it? When total costs, including environmental
> ones, are taken into account, the issue becomes thornier.

Considering that at least 99% of film being used and processed today
is in the point-and-shoot and disposable camera market, any restraint
by amateurs and professionals in regard to bracketing is a very, very
small percentage of overall film use.  I say this not to dismiss the
issue of wasting film or to encourage this "technique", but rather to
point out where the focus should be placed.  Also, it is in the best
interests of Kodak, Fuji, et al., to promote the growth of this market.
APS was created primarily to boost film sales (similarly, the so-called
"panoramic" mode in APS was created to encourage sales of higher-cost 
wide prints: relatively few snapshooters chose in the past to have
enlargements made once they'd received their prints, so the decision is
now made at the time of exposure: an easy and painless decision for the
snapshooter and a more profitable one for the lab).

> ... bracketing seems a brute-force substitute for
> precise metering technique.

Yes.  I'm astonished that bracketing is now an expected mode on many
cameras today.



> The "Leica Glow"
> For the life of me, I don't know what the heck this really is:

The thing I've never understood was all the fuss about the smoothness
of the wind lever.  I've got two M3's, in perfect condition, and also
an M6.  The M3 wind lever smoothness is ok, but nothing I'd write home
about.  The pivoting plastic bit on the M6's lever is annoying to me.
Yet, Pop Photo (yeah, I know) raved about it.  I believe the reviewer
was actually using thinly veiled sarcasm.
 


> Me, I treat my cameras like tools, but I take
> good care of my tools.


Well said.

- -Dave