Re: [Leica] By the light of the Leica glow...

["Dan Post" <dwpost@email.msn.com>]

Anthony-
Well, I am weighing in here, and no doubt I'll be flamed for my opinion, but
here it is:
I really like your site. Well laid out, and I am envious of it, and all the
other LUGger sites I have visited! I wish I could build a site a good as
many that I've seen.
I also don't mind your posts, as I use the delete key, and you do seem to
maintain the subject line so I can read the ones that interest me and pass
by the rest- as I hope everyone does. I am quite sure my wordy posts are
dreaded by some, and so be it. I don't feel slighted in the least. I once
had a friend complain to me that I wanted all my friends to like all my
other friends, and it just wasn't going to happen. I like oil and
vinaigrette dressing, and even it doesn't mix well! So, I have come to
accept that not all my LUG buddies will all like each other.
I also would like to comment on metering; If you know what you are doing,
the M6 or even the MR on my old M3 will give good results! When I was in the
photolab, I was constantly amazed at the number of rolls that I processed
which were taken with 'state of the art' SLRs with multi segmented, 256
square matrix, artificial intelligence control metering systems with
computers and fuzzy logic, eye following focus, and whiz-bang motor drives-
and the damn things were PITIFULLY exposed!
On the other hand, there was one lady who loved the Fuji Quicksnaps, and 90%
of her frames were well enough exposed with what amounted to a box camera
with a pinhole aperture to give some really nice images! One of our best
customers had a Nikon F5 with about $20,000 dollars worth of lenses, but was
helpless when he knocked his camera off the "PROGRAM" setting, and had to
get one of the salesmen to reset it for him!
I love Leicas- the image POTENTIAL is wonderful, but when it comes down to
making a good photo, well exposed and composed nicely, it takes an eye,
experience (No teacher like using lots of film!) and the ability to see a
good opportunity. Metering, in any form, is merely a guide. Those who depend
on their cameras to make all the decisions are often cruelly disappointed.
AE is nice in some cases, but you have to learn how to use it as much one
has to learn how to interpret an hand-held meter.
Dan

- ----- Original Message -----
From: Anthony Atkielski <anthony@atkielski.com>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 1999 4:24 AM
Subject: Re: [Leica] By the light of the Leica glow...


> From: Godfrey DiGiorgi <ramarren@bayarea.net>
> Sent: Monday, October 18, 1999 23:45
> Subject: [Leica] By the light of the Leica glow...
>
>
> > Buying this system has been an exercise in what NOT
> > to buy rather than the other way around. "Keep it
> > simple."
>
> If you want complexity, use an SLR.  One of the great advantages to the M
system
> is its simplicity, and I often wonder about people who complicate their M
> investments with bizarre lenses and adaptors and goggles and what not.
> Eventually they end up with something that is just as complicated as an
SLR
> system, but far more awkward.
>
> > My choice of the 35/2 ASPH and 90/2.8 has worked out
> > like I'd hoped: they are a very comfortable complementary
> > pair for me ...
>
> How does one focus a 90 mm lens on a M6?  Everything I read says that 90
mm is
> the extreme upper limit of practicality for a rangefinder focusing system.
>
> > The meter must be darn good because every frame
> > on both rolls is perfectly exposed.
>
> The meter is primitive and serves only as a starting point.  Accurate
exposures
> are up to you.  That was my first lesson after buying an M6.  For what
it's
> worth, though, all of my exposures are correct now, so apparently it
wasn't that
> hard to learn.
>
> > The quality of the Leica lenses is evident even in junk-one-hour
> > photofinishing 4x6 prints ... I think I can
> > spy the weak force at work at the subatomic level in there.
>
> Scan the negatives if you really want to see the quality.
>
>   -- Anthony
>