Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/04/26

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Leica quality MF system ?
From: "4Season" <4season@boulder.net>
Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 09:17:40 -0600

Awhile back, before the Photo Techniques bokeh articles were published, Mike
Johnson used to characterize lenses as "wire sharp" and "smooth sharp". I
feel that the Zeiss and Leica glass I've owned falls on the smooth side (the
50/2.8 maybe less so) and the Fujinon and Mamiya glass I've owned, on the
other. In general, I find the smoother-looking lenses a bit easier to use,
particularly at wide apertures. I have not tried the current production
Bronica gear, but would like to, given their ownership by Tamron, but
frankly, I've been getting Hasselblad gear for less money! I've owned Rollei
too, but was not overly happy with Marflex service, and I believe they are
the sole service center for current Rollei SLRs in the US.

Many Leica enthusiasts may like 60's Hasselblad, as the chrome is very nice,
and the detailing, the milled metal pieces, engravings, etc-are most
attractive. However, I prefer using the newer gear myself, as, almost
without exception, it's handier. Try working a #12 film back when your
fingers are numb with cold, for instance!

Jeff


- -----Original Message-----
From: Mikiro Mori <arbos@silva.net>
>NO OBJECTIONS TO HASSEY, but how about Mamiya 7 (or 6)?
>I used to have a "7".  This is, in fact, an MF Leica-M (MF-Minolta CLE, to
>be more precise).  The optics (wide-angles, in particular) are superb, if
>not better than Zeiss; The viewfinder is clean; The size/weight is
>relatively less burdensome.