[Leica] RE: 50 1.4 Test Results, and magazines

[Jim Brick <jimbrick@photoaccess.com>]

I let my Pop Photo subscription expire years ago. There wasn't anything in
there that was of interest to me. Especially the equipment tests.

There is really only one test. Use the equipment yourself. If the results
please you... test done! Buy it.

If there is something you don't like about it... test still done! Don't buy it.

Magazines are notorious for being biased toward certain equipment
manufacturers and photographers. Just look as Outdoor Photographer. It's
nothing but a forum for the featured photographers and their equipment
choice. At least the magazine is not dim witted enough to run "optical
bench" tests on various pieces of equipment. A single plus in their favor.
A bunch of numbers spewing out of a computer are of little meaning in real
photo life.

Photo Techniques, Camera Arts, View Camera, Viewfinder, Rangefinder, and
Photograph America, are my current magazine choices.

When you read tests in these magazines, it's usually some guy, standing in
a lab, in a studio, or out in the field, using the equipment, explaining
how it works, what's good and what's bad, and then explaining the results
look like. And why. You can at least equate a particular real life
situation with the results. Other magazines simply re-hash the
manufacturer's promotional hype.

If you yourself like what you yourself have done, that's all that counts.

David Vestal had an excellent article in the latest Photo Techniques,
dealing with B&W, mentioning Leica, etc.

Jim


At 01:27 PM 1/13/99 -0800, you wrote:
>Oh I don't know Eric, IMHO I think Pop Photo does a pretty good job testing
>gear.  Their tests agree with the German magazine Colorfoto's testing and
>with the French magazine Chasseur L'image.  
>
>However, I do agree with you that the article/review was probably at least
>six or more months ago so perhaps Pop Photo just did not have the latest at
>the time.  Other than that I have always thought they were fair to Leica
>gear.  They do not attempt to compare the M6 to say the G2 and hey you may
>be surprised to learn that they even liked the R8.
>
>BTW, I have the Leica tests that Chasseur D'Images did (I collect tests for
>comparison) and they indicated that the 35mm F1.4 Summilux was the best 35mm
>lens on the market, same as they said about the 19mm R Lens.  Pretty much on
>target with Pop and ColorFoto.
>
>Peter K