[Leica] RE; DISCREETNESS

[jib <jbuf@ix.netcom.com>]

         Most of what I do is street shooting, and I find that most
people do not notice M camera's even when I  am carrying 2 or 3 at a
time.  I have even had people ask me why I am using antigues.  What they
notice is the R7 with the Tamron 300 f2.8, it is hard to sneak a shot
with that especailly if the subject notices you.  I went to the Easter
parade in philly, and I had m4p with 35 F 1.4 asph, m3ds with 90
summicron, and R7 with 180 F 4, and it was a great combination.  I use
pre-focus, when I see something that is interesting that could be
interesting if it is not fleeting, I guess the distance, set the camera
and then bring it up to my eye.  I will even turn slightly away from the
subject and then swing the camera  on them.  I used this technigue
yesterday, with a small dark skinned woman wearing a tall stripped red
and white Dr. Seuss hat.  Once we were shooting a street carnival, and
there was an old Nigerian woman in tribal garb who did not like to have
her picture taken.  So I stood directly in front of her, pointed the 300
f 2,8 in her face, and my friend was at an angle to her, when I got her
attention he got the shot.

        The only time I get any greif is when I am out shooting and I
run into a Nikon user, who has to pin me down and ask me why I use Leica
and that they could not be any netter than his Nikons.  Or the other one
that they always ask,  is since all the Leica SLR's are just Minolta's
what was the big deal.  They really get annoyed when I tell them that
Minolta lenses are at least a magnitude better than Nikons.  I wonder if
nikon/canon/minolta/pentax users ever get asked the same questions about
the equipment they prefer.  I am one of those kind of people that I just
to shoot and do not really want to answer a lot of questions.  I never
really understood why Leica brings all the attention, or is it Lecia
envy.  When I shoot with Hasselblads, I never get bronica users who want
to know if there really is a difference.

John
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