Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/04/26
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B.D. wrote:
> As one who also owns and shoots with both, it strikes me as an
> incredibly stupid statement.
Yes? So what about this:
"Some of these arrivistes buy Nikon F5s, or Leica R8s, or any other top
price SLR, only to shoot photos of their cat without ever quite knowing
what they are doing. Often their top-of-the-range camera body has a
mediocre lens on the front, or worse. We've all seen the messages
posted by the people with an F100 and kit lenses, or the guy who
suggested he needed a Tamron mount so he could use his Tamron lenses on
a Leica SLR body he intended to buy. Many of these people think that
because they can buy a Leica, they have somehow acquired the *class*
that was formerly associated with Leica ownership. They could not be
more wrong. Money doesn't buy class.
They either don't use the camera at all in order to maximise its
investment value, or they treat it like bone china, for the same reason,
and never get it wet, or dirty, or allow it to show any signs of use.
They take mediocre snapshots with it and convince themselves that they
have magically transformed themselves into people with class who take
classy photographs. Then, to show how much "class" they have, they ram
their *ownership* of Leica down the bodily orifices of anyone who they
think will listen, whether from choice or not. And it's *always* about
their ownership of a Leica, *never* about their photography.
Let's face facts. If these people had *real* class, we would hardly
ever hear from them on here. People with real class have no need to
trumpet their ownership of a fashion accessory.
As it is, they crawl out from under their stones every time there's a
new thread with the name "Leica" in it, just so they can once again
assert their ownership by waving their "badge of office". It's just
like a religious cult, any appearance of whose leader triggers mass
hysteria amongst the followers. Any tiny criticism is met with bleating
of the kind that the largest flock of sheep on Earth could not rival.
It is this behaviour I would find objectionable if it were not so
laughable ... surely these people cannot be serious? Do they really
expect us "lesser mortals" to look up to them because they own a German
camera they hardly ever use? Do they really think that mere ownership
of expensive trinkets confers any *real* class on them?
I can only imagine the contempt that Henri Cartier-Bresson would reserve
for such people.
There are those who buy Leicas to use and enjoy, or even to collect and
admire, whom I respect. I imagine they must be deeply embarrassed every
time they read yet another posting from some upstart with a fat wallet
who can only boast about his latest trinket."
Sounds very true.
- -----
St.
(Stanislaw B.A. Stawowy)
http://www.geocities.com/Stanislaw_Stawowy
Echelon/Carnivore lines: Bob Black, Hakim Bey,
Ralph Klein, Sabotage in the American Workplace