Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/11/14
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hi folks, What is really interesting with this comparison thing is, that years ago there wasn't this internet connection, no one really did the comparisons we see today. We bought Leica lenses because they were the best, therefore we expected the best in our picture taking to use them, we thought the pictures were bloody marvelous, we of course thinking the Leica made the image better. ;-) Well it did to some degree, but we never took into account that it was us holding the camera and not the twitchies per mm that is so often quoted these days that makes the picture better. I always bought Leica lenses for the aperture speed and not what it cut on film, hell we never really knew about that stuff as we were picture taking photographers and not techie nuts! So as I see the communications today about which will do whatever and stop down or not, I find it strange, simply because if one buys a Noctilux you buy it because it allows you to shoot where others fear to tread. Yes those with a 1.4 lens can shoot in the same kind of light conditions, but usually at sacrificing of shutter speeds where this could spell disaster with camera shake or complete loss of understandable subject. I'm not sure what the problem is with stopping down as the Noctilux is a very fine lens stopped down and an earth shaking lens wide open. The simple logic is, there are some photographers who completely live by f8.0 and be there, they gotta be stopped down! Then there are others who just use the apertures as they were intended, to control the light for the correct exposure regardless of f1.0 or 22. If any of you think I've used my Noctilux for the past umpteen years, well since the f 1.0 arrived on the scene, wide open all these years, you're sadly mistaken simply because it's been used for the correct exposure at the moment, be that f 1.0 or f 22. And I might say with very nice results, well that is the content, as I never do a squiggly lines per mm each time I look at a slide or print. ;-) Sorry this rambles, but if some of you guys were more concerned about just taking pictures rather than the squigglies per mm you'd save yourselves a great deal of worry and have a great deal of wonderful pictures where others wouldn't even think of taking pictures. ted