[Leica] existential pleasures of enhineering (1)

[Erwin Puts <imxputs@knoware.nl>]

The existential pleasure of engineering.

Many Leica bodies and lenses from 1925 till now have been designed and built
to very high engineering standards. The choice of materials, the surface
treatment and the tolerances of machining the various parts of the M3 as
example gave the M3 the deserved status of a scientific photographic
instrument, very near to microscope standards. In 1954 it was very unusual
that a photographic camera, consisting of more than 800 parts, would be build
to a general precision of less than 10 micron. The second major aspect of the
M3 was its relentless dedication to one type of photography: the well known
"artless art of the snapshot". Its huge viewfinder, its silent and direct
shutter, its ergonomics that supported the stream of consciousness photography
and its newly designed optics that made close-encounter photography in worse
lighting situations possible, it all gave one message: here engineering and
photography had been masterfully integrated into one solid piece of scientific
instrument.
The M6 in its current incarnation still has these same qualities. And its
optics have been vastly improved, compared to its namesakes from 40 years ago.
So we can safely state that the M6 .85 is the best and the best made M body in
the whole history of the M series.
The M camera is for stream of consciousness, close encounter type of
photography and therefore Leica lens designers put special emphasis on the
wide angle lenses as the M is eminently suitable for this kind of photography.
The Leica M then is an excellently engineered optical and mechanical system
dedicated to a special style of photography. It should appeal to admirers of
the art of scientific engineering as to the practitioners of the art of the
photographic snapshot. There are however a number of strange opinions
surrounding this instrument and most of them have been expressed recently on
the Lug. So time for some reflections.
One of the most hotly debated topics is the alleged justification for buying
and using Leicas, quite often even specific types of M bodies. Often the
Porsche analogy has been proposed as a yardstick for 'proper' use of the M
camera. The Porsche is seen as the embodiment of a high-class sports car and
its intended use by implication should be by an expert driver with the ability
to exploit its sports car potential. You do not buy a Porsche to get yourself
some packs of cigarettes at the shop a few blocks away, is the proposition. On
first sight this type of reasoning makes sense. But on refection this is a bad
and value-loaded argument. Anyone who owns a Porsche and drives very leisurely
and without any sports car ambitions may not drive this car and enjoy the
craftsmanship built into it? Who are these persons who dictate what is the
proper driving style for a Porsche owner. In the same way I would like to ask
the question why any Leica user should not be allowed to define for
him/herself why (s)he likes this instrument and what to do with it. It is very
surprising to observe that there ought to exist (at least to some persons) a
code of conduct for using, selecting and buying Leica products.

Erwin