Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/10/29
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]This is a multi-part message in MIME format. - ------=_NextPart_000_0003_01BE0311.92FE0180 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I'll preface this by saying I love my M6, loved my M3 and M2 back when, even the IIIc I started with. The M6 is unquestionably the best camera there is in terms of long-term reliability, quiet, accuracy of focusing in low light, etc. The lenses I use - 35 Summilux ASPH, 50 Summicron (German from the 70s) and 90 SUmmicron M are wonderful. But... I spent some time the other evening looking for the umpteenth time at my little Aperture HCB book. What struck me was how many not-quite in focus shots there were. How soft the lenses used for many of the photos were. And how what makes these photos great has nothing to do with technical excellence of equipment, but of vision. What makes these great photos are the framing, the balance, the subjects, the capturing of the decisive moment, the seeing of something another person with the same or better equipment might stare directly at and never see. I will have the timmerity to suggest that there is no "magical" quality to the old Leica lenses, just lack of modern sharpness. Perhaps what we wax so endlessly and elequently about is not this mythical Leica something that the lenses had, but the fact that we are a bit put off by the razor sharpness of image created by the modern lenses we run out to buy as they come off the designer's bench. Yes, I love the Summilux ASPh. Yes, it's flare suppression is unparalleled, and it creates images upon which I can cut my fingers. On the other hand, how much lighter and smaller is the previous 35 Summilux. And how many staggeringly good photos did it create, how many images in Requiem were made with it? HCB, Eugene Smith, Capa, et al, made images we all revere with lenses that today sell used for less than $500 and "don't hold a candle" to today's optics. Isn't it possible that the "magical" quality of the Leica was its uniqueness as a photographic instrument - (I'm not ignoring Zeiss here, Marc :-) )- the fact that it allowed photographers, as I have noted before, to go where no (camera) man had gone, and shoot what none had shot; the fact that it allowed the capturing of the decisive moment for the first time. The fact that it became identified with all that, and was therefore thought to be the ideal, if not the only, instrument capable of doing all that, even when other excellent equipment came along. So what's my point? I'm not really sure. Except to say that while most of our equipment discussions are extremely valuable, and the comradship created by this list is truly wonderful thing, we sometimes seem to forget that if, like the vast majority of today's outstanding photographers, people like Ted and Eric and Tina and Jim and etc. were not using Leicas, they'd still be making terrific images. On the other hand, I (sort of) play a Martin D-35 guitar, the M6 of acoustic guitars - and that doesn't begin to make me an HCB of the steel-string guitar. It makes it a happy guitarist. It makes me sound as good as I possibly can. But it still doesn't make me a player anyone would want to waste time listening to. So..."Talk amongst yourselves..." :-) - ------=_NextPart_000_0003_01BE0311.92FE0180 Content-Type: application/ms-tnef; name="winmail.dat" Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="winmail.dat" eJ8+IgIMAQaQCAAEAAAAAAABAAEAAQeQBgAIAAAA5AQAAAAAAADoAAEIgAcAGAAAAElQTS5NaWNy b3NvZnQgTWFpbC5Ob3RlADEIAQ2ABAACAAAAAgACAAEGgAMADgAAAM4HCgAdAAcAOAAAAAQAPwEB A5AGALAMAAAnAAAACwACAAEAAAALACMAAAAAAAMAJgAAAAAACwApAAAAAAADADYAAAAAAB4AcAAB AAAAOQAAAE15dGhvbG9neSB2IFJlYWxpdHkgLSBBIENhbGwgRm9yIEEgVGhvdWdodGZ1bCBEaXNj dXNzaW9uAAAAAAIBcQABAAAAFgAAAAG+Azt6awvUpwNu/hHSrghERVNUAAAAAAIBHQwBAAAAGwAA AFNNVFA6QkRDT0xFTkBFQVJUSExJTksuTkVUAAALAAEOAAAAAEAABg4AsCJ6OwO+AQIBCg4BAAAA GAAAAAAAAACL4FDoEIi8EZ5basg5w3sawoAAAAsAHw4BAAAAAwAGEPlnHCEDAAcQqgkAAB4ACBAB AAAAZQAAAElMTFBSRUZBQ0VUSElTQllTQVlJTkdJTE9WRU1ZTTYsTE9WRURNWU0zQU5ETTJCQUNL V0hFTixFVkVOVEhFSUlJQ0lTVEFSVEVEV0lUSFRIRU02SVNVTlFVRVNUSU9OQUJMWVQAAAAAAgEJ EAEAAAAqCAAAJggAAMoMAABMWkZ1NT7yPwMACgByY3BnMTI1FjIA+Atgbg4QMDMznQH3IAKkA2MC AGNoCsBgc2V0MCAHbQKAfRkKgXVjAFALA3VsboUCIGUCsSBJJ2wDIApwCXBmANBlIHRoAQQAIGJ5 IHNheVULgGcT8CAJAHYUsG1RFTBNNiwV02QWIzNmIABwFuBNMhUQANBr2CB3aAnwFoBlFgADoKsU 0BSwSRkQYxWxcwGQ7wAgFtED8BTQLhFwGOEWYGIgFPF1bnEKUBmAaVsCIAGgbBUwGNJiG0Eg5GNh B4ByYRjCCXAawpcLgBTABJBtBCBvZhXRVQ8gLR2yIAlwbAcwYrsDEBoQeRaAGyAIkHQWgP0A0GMI cADQFTAeEQIQIEA/AJAVkR2BCQAH4B8AZ2jrH/ERQGMaRGwJ8BEwBCCHFcAhEBSwLSAzNQYACHVt bQMQdXggQehTUEgWgDURYCQDBQDxAiAgKEcdwQORA1IYw1A3MHMpF1M5JQFVbSVGTRdQHSF3AiAE gWbDE2AaQEJ1dC4pcAqitwqECoAZYXAJ8AVAcwNw9xSxB3EYw28c8hhzFYIJAPxvaxWCAhAFwBjS JBAFMHcJ4RTQKyRhBUAWMR9RdD8i4CSAKpAAIAhwFLBIQ25CFRAssRpAVxEAKsF0TnIS0BgAKwF3 YQQgaM8hsQOBFTATgHQtH7EZwG8dciDjFUAxwHQEIBz0d/sdERpASCGxKuABgBjDIuW/I3EW4C0i MgMeERjScDOR9m8EIDREQRdxMcIYIC6S/GFrB5EY0SOBNzUJwS6RPxEABCAyURTgFZE3YCBkfzsw GgIdoRDwAwAcgAMgZb54FKAUIAnwFKEeEWUfsW5wB4ACMBaAYilQHgJ2/wQAG3EwdTjaOgQ3NShS GNL/A1AckBWBFoAb8wdAAHAUoOFBxHN1YmoFkDOwQcT/HIAFMAhxFZE2xQWBPoEWAv8q8T3CQrMJ 4EQ1KuI6xABw/yvEL3Eq4AOgO4RCwhyRHgD/BcAcMAJAK/I9ZhYgIfIZc/1EwWkJcENAG8EukRdi E6D/FgAFwEYxKZ0D8BQhEQAWAT8Y0isxHKEfYTsSQvBnZ58cQhTQLpEc9xOAICIAwHpnPCIiH6EH QE8FK4NsvRbgTEZQHIAi1RaAaiEQfwVAC2AX8R4RBGUzgArAcLcToAQQGkBQBJARAHA3gf8wojRA MXEkcCrgGHAXcCLg/wQQS6IXcR7wPVEqoUuiBuD/PhFQozUSFPEWMBTRPDJS1O9G2E/2ItYRAGQ9 5EETAND/T9VWcShSHNAfMEBBPhMeIPcVIRjSHMB6BbFU9x4CB3D/USBDsToSFtFfFQRlIuVWcf8x AAOgWMI7IT4AS7EzwxUwXwWgSRJe4USkAJBnE6By7icVATzRGjFZU3IVxRjSfyQKZkYaEGXRDvEd IULwcP8UUQQQG3EaxAqxB0Ai4CLgf1xxF2JeYWEUHWFgwhrhcP9IMlnxLiAVwByAA6AgQC6j7mYV gUgBGkBPGLQrxBEA/xdwFoAxwxLQLiAh4yvxF2L+cwDAPLEFwBTxNvMJcD5w/whgBCAj2TfoMgMZ gU+RRCL9G8FnLLAW4Dc1S0BrWW+11zISbCUdgVI9UmUewDRC7zHxAQA7dBoQPymqL/EWgH5FT4AJ 8GdRJDAU0BaAQ+1D4GEiMhdQbBaAeMNsJf9dwhQhciE0AzuSIuVP9ARwfxVgRiEUITXnV0JP4gOg JJck8BFgF2IiO1BuJzpB/1KSHNBtYVcxUYBSIn8SZdHebwUwDeBVcCmrc4GiXmL/N3AAkAJgFLJb dVEPNrZS1PcxghoQGuJpWCJgQjGRHND/NzMJwEPgWfEdcTDiSjMjsH4oFAAewFkyZYEFsBWCWm9G UAQRHQIWgE0KwBlAOvotJwApI7Bc7F5haqEhsP8W0YnYSAEgASMyThMyUWFi/wEQBbBCgjswdRAY Eh0hUNH+KByEJwADglxRdQEToGsUvzOBWUE4gxOCk8MzgjuOD/+PF0OfRK8qsS0mbhARIDUR/wdx GkSWmxwwHIIawAEAAjD/BpAIkBnkfTNP8msUMYIc8/+RshTBCGBKomOSK2Sc8XwS9waQWSUroW4b wGiRiriYIf8boT0DO1BHM54HGIMYIiu2fzyFBUBJ6JyjB0AeUSmbU/+SUi6QZdEWMWygC4B5cBPx v4ukOhEUIBUxL7EaQEU8gf8FMU9CfzFddBTgLzEEYBxR/x4RCGFJ2UtABPAhED6SQLTfPHAw8HhA HvAVMHYHQFGw34WRaxSX4wNwHMBkM4AFIP9hDBTxHwAcUXGiMQAbwSiX/xTCQaJWcUbTB3NGMSZx OzDXLSFPoJbGZhaBaTjwGMP3r4AcUQDAaowxh1WDFilQ/xmBF3AVgo+tKpCDgC8xtpP2VBbRF2JF BRAZQBdiB2D7G5AXU0oHcFekImJ4c1ky/yEUUtNDZINAcQEbYBQhoGH/ONE64wSQBoGKcmwzKZtu r/1moigq4AAgHgEnAAtRS7GnjUIbYAOgRC0j0Wcyof8KwEHEGqEeEQDQcmGDocVF/wQgI7CwJC6R O1AHkIGiHDD/UTAYsTswONIxQgORL/I2xfMZgAngbC0w4RWCxVQaQP5JOLaO8jpRaYB08cVjsmH/ y9krASrgGwCCETnhdSKQk/+FRWRhAHApI2tiv3TINslH+8QTcLN5lXIokBNgnrIqsf87ITGBMsEr M7JSLEQ3YKed+SlxIlQHQBgAHJAeURxR/9MwCHB/YRYAVXDW0Y2SKaQFEpEA2ZAAAAMAEBAAAAAA AwAREAAAAAALAACACCAGAAAAAADAAAAAAAAARgAAAAADhQAAAAAAAAMAAoAIIAYAAAAAAMAAAAAA AABGAAAAABCFAAAAAAAAAwAFgAggBgAAAAAAwAAAAAAAAEYAAAAAUoUAAPATAAAeACWACCAGAAAA AADAAAAAAAAARgAAAABUhQAAAQAAAAQAAAA4LjUAAwAmgAggBgAAAAAAwAAAAAAAAEYAAAAAAYUA AAAAAAALAC+ACCAGAAAAAADAAAAAAAAARgAAAAAOhQAAAAAAAAMAMIAIIAYAAAAAAMAAAAAAAABG AAAAABGFAAAAAAAAAwAygAggBgAAAAAAwAAAAAAAAEYAAAAAGIUAAAAAAAAeAEGACCAGAAAAAADA AAAAAAAARgAAAAA2hQAAAQAAAAEAAAAAAAAAHgBCgAggBgAAAAAAwAAAAAAAAEYAAAAAN4UAAAEA AAABAAAAAAAAAB4AQ4AIIAYAAAAAAMAAAAAAAABGAAAAADiFAAABAAAAAQAAAAAAAAALAMaACyAG AAAAAADAAAAAAAAARgAAAAAAiAAAAAAAAAsAyIALIAYAAAAAAMAAAAAAAABGAAAAAAWIAAAAAAAA CwDdgAggBgAAAAAAwAAAAAAAAEYAAAAABoUAAAAAAAALAOGACCAGAAAAAADAAAAAAAAARgAAAACC hQAAAQAAAAIB+A8BAAAAEAAAAIvgUOgQiLwRnltqyDnDexoCAfoPAQAAABAAAACL4FDoEIi8EZ5b asg5w3saAgH7DwEAAABQAAAAAAAAADihuxAF5RAaobsIACsqVsIAAFBTVFBSWC5ETEwAAAAAAAAA AE5JVEH5v7gBAKoAN9luAAAAQzpcV0lORE9XU1xvdXRsb29rLnBzdAADAP4PBQAAAAMADTT9NwAA AgF/AAEAAAAxAAAAMDAwMDAwMDA4QkUwNTBFODEwODhCQzExOUU1QjZBQzgzOUMzN0IxQTA0Rjcz MzAwAAAAAHKN - ------=_NextPart_000_0003_01BE0311.92FE0180--