Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/02/13
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 10:25 PM 2/12/98 -0500, you wrote: >Dan C., you wrote: <Nowadays, lets face it, the rangefinder is a relic,> > >Then how do you explain the Mamiya 6 introduced in 1990 and the very >successful Mamiya 7 introduced just 2 years ago. Tom, Rangefinders in MF has been around for years. The Fuji cameras that have fixed lenses for example. But the Mamiya 6 and 7 cameras takes MF rangefinders to a new level. And besides, there has been a revival of 35mm rangefinders amongst photojournalists for the past 10 years or so. I picked up Peter Howe (at the time Dir. of Photography at LIFE) at the airport when I was at the University of Missouri one day after seeing him that morning on the TODAY show. He said on the show that rangefinders and black and white were making a comeback. I asked him about that and he said that the work he was seeing coming into the Time/Life offices had taken a turn towards classic photojournalistic style. Black and white submissions were increasing significantly, and that many young photojournalists were shooting with Leicas and moderate lenses - mostly 35mm and 50mm. And he said the quality was often quite impressive. So I don't think Leicas or Mamiyas are obsolete, defunct or "old fashioned." It's the latest thing, and extreme lenses and super-saturated color are becoming passe. :-) And thank goodness for that, because most people don't do that well with the extremes. ========== Eric Welch St. Joseph, MO http://www.ponyexpress.net/~ewelch Profanity sucks.