[Leica] The Leica Mystique

[Bud Cook <budcook@ibm.net>]

In the July/August 1995 issue of Darkroom & Creative Camera Techniques,
Carl
Weese wrote a piece called The Leica Mystique.  This piece was reprinted
and
distributed by Leica.   As a long time Leica user, I found it to be very

interesting.  I've included a (very) few excerpts below and can send the
entire
piece as e-mail to anyone who is interested.   Just let me know if you
want it.

The original piece is about 16,000 characters.

Bud Cook

- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

............'Leica partisans may display a loyalty that seems truly
fanatic,
but they seldom engage in one-on-one comparisons with other cameras
because,
quite simply, there is no competition for the Leica M.  A 35mm, all
manual,
interchangeable-lens, optical rangefinder camera, the M is not only the
original but also the only surviving example of its breed.  Its
adherents go
beyond brand loyalty in their attachment to this camera; for many, the
relationship can truly be described as a romance.'

Ergonomics

.................'It is a miracle of ergonomics, designed before the
very
term came into common use.  This is of no small importance.  The
ergonomic
comfort of the camera is the first element of the intense shooting style
it
fosters, which influences the pictures Leica photographers make.  It is
this
shooting style which I suspect is at the heart of the Leica Mystique.'

Those Leica Lenses

................... '35 mm Summilux (f/1.4) was a breakthrough lens when
it
was introduced and its design reflects a number of compromises.  Wide
open,
it has very low contrast (that as we've just seen can be beneficial) and

also suffers from coma, which renders point light sources as smeared
shapes.
I think this defect is so beautiful, that while my standard 35 mm lens
is
now the current Summicron, I keep and use my 27-year-old Summilux for
it's
unique, idiosyncratic image qualities.'


Camera Handling: The Leica Style

...........'By contrast there is nothing seductive about the view
through
the Leica's finder.  It's just a one-eyed look at the world tinted
slightly blue
and reduced to three-quarters life size.'

............'With AF, when making a fast shot it is all too easy to make

pictures perfectly focused on the wrong thing.  Or to make sharply
focused
images with the invariable stylistic device of a main subject dead
center in
the frame.  With this pre-focus technique you can shoot at lightning
speed
while using the viewfinder purely for framing.  This can lead to better
pictures.'

Leica Technique

........'Totally manual control, rangefinder viewing and focusing,
dimunutive size, quiet operation, specialized lenses maximized for
certain shooting
conditions; this is a set of attributes that stakes out a specific
photographic territory for the Leica.  If these attributes are the
perfect
ones for the kind of pictures a photographer wants to make, it may be
the
only tool that is needed.'