Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/11/14

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Tech Pan
From: Simon Stevens <simon@camera-craftsman.com>
Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 09:59:40 -0500

Whoops! England uses the same system we do, inches, ounces, pounds --
the
whole schtick -- not metric. And KG III was about as English as they
come.
;-)

Not true. Most everything is sold in metric in the UK. I went to English
schools, and that's also all they taught us.

Given globalization, the US is going to have to change sooner or later
too, but I wish we'd hurry up as American measurements still confuse me
after more than a decade living here. Thank heavens Kodak is finally
starting to mark their packages (like XTOL) in metric. Now at last I
don't have to get a calculator out every time I go in the darkroom!

Before anybody says that Americans can't change we might note that the
US military operates almost completely in metric. I used to be a soldier
and I watched the speed in which Americans get used to measuring and
estimating range in "clicks" (Km), fueling in liters, ordering in kilos
and remembering (and visualizuing) that the maximum effective range of
an M16 A2 is 550m, etc., so it can be done. The only reason that the US
Army uses any bizarre (excuse me, I mean "standard") measurements is for
tools for made-in-Detroit vehicles.

BTW. When was the last time anybody bought a 2" lens? You mean American
photographers are also using metric? Don't say it's so!

End of rant.

Simon Stevens

Replies: Reply from "Paul Arnold" <osprey@bmt.net> (Re: [Leica] Tech Pan)