[Leica] leica: the best camera for shooting tree bark

[Kyle Cassidy <KCassidy@asc.upenn.edu>]

> You stand in front of a tree with your F5 and I'll stand
> in front of it with my M6 and ASPH glass and lets both
> make 16 by 20s and see who's got the value.
           
Dear god is that what you do with your cameras? If you're just going to
shoot trees why don't you spend the $400 and get a Speed Graphic and shoot
tree bark in 4x5 a heck of a lot sharper than any Leica shot you're ever
going to get. There's value for sharpness.... If Leica photography is
reduced to shooting tree bark and comparing chromes in a dark room with a
20x loupe and a light box I'm throwing my cameras in the river 'cause I have
better things to do. This constant attention to sharpness is a delusion
that's driving us away from the real goal, which is producing immortal (or
at least long lived) images. Of all the most fameous Leica Users not one of
them stood around photographing tree bark and raving about the sharpness at
Magnum coctail parties. I can think of a lot of
no-sharper-than-your-average-consumer-camera Leica shots that will be
remembered for a long long time, and I've no doubt that that there are
closets full of super-sharp pictures of tree bark that will never stir
anyone's soul.

kc