[Leica] Re: Is the Leica an endangered species?

[reviews_ed.hifichoice@dennis.co.uk (Alan Sircom)]

Conventional silver-halide snapping is on its way out, but
comparitively slowly at the moment. More and more press photographers
are using digital cameras for those high-speed requirements (note how
fast World Cup press photos appear on the CNN and BBC websites — a
picture of a goal scorer appears only minutes after the goal was
scored). It is now rare for a news snapper on a major paper not to use
a film scanner to post the pictures to the pictures desk. The film
itself is fast becoming the stumbling block in the process. 

However, the situation is not so bleak as some would consider. The M6
is an ideal candidate for modification in the manner of the Kodak/Nikon
and Kodak/Canon models currently doing the rounds among press types.
Why? The digital scanning block replaces the film plane shutter and the
electronics sit beneath the camera where the motor-drive once lived.
Think of another camera that has a removeable base-plate making this
possible. Additionally, many will stick to halide photos for some
years, both for the tactile joys film has in and of itself (after all,
I can't think of an real enthusiast who doesn't like fumbling about in
the darkroom?), and the ability to have highlights without wash-out. 

One hundred years ago, photographers of the day were bemoaning the
Kodak camera. They felt that it was the end of 'true' photography. It
wasn't and photography was enhanced by the new technology. This is just
as true today. Perhaps in a dozen years time, Leica will have digital
reflex and rangefinder cameras, but I don't think halide photography -
or Leica photography - will die off, just yet.