RE: [Leica] digitalrebel

["bdcolen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>]

Come on, Doug - I'm not talking about the SLRs on which you have mounted
modern glass - I'm talking about the very substantial of folks on this
list using screw mount rangefinders - with their split
rangefinder/viewfinder - and the rangefinder lenses of the 40s and 50s,
many of which were not even the best of their era, let alone holding a
candle to modern Leica lenses.

As to changing film types - Gee, a digital with isos of
100-200-400-800-1600-3200, with the ability to pick from more than a
half-dozen color temps, and to select a custom color temp, differs
little from a film camera in which one can switch film types. Oh, no,
that's not true, is it? With the digital you can switch film types for
each individual shot. ;-)

Again, if you're happy with film and your Rs, great - just as I am happy
with my Ms and film for most of my serious work. But our preferring film
for some or all our work doesn't negate the truth about where digital is
now, or about the fact that many of those blindly bashing the idea of
going digital are using truly obsolete equipment that produces subpar
results - in fact that produces image quality that can be bested by
virtually any modern SLR using consumer lenses, or, for that matter, can
be bested by a Bessa R using Cosina lenses costing less than $500. ;-)

B. D.

- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
[mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us] On Behalf Of Douglas
Herr
Sent: Friday, August 22, 2003 12:42 PM
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: RE: [Leica] digitalrebel


bdcolen <bdcolen@earthlink.net> wrote:

> The oft repeated canard that digital forces one to 'trade up' every 
> 12-18 months is pretty hilarious when read so often on a list which is

> probably dominated by people who are using film equipment that is 
> anywhere from 30-60 years old, including lenses which "glow" - meaning

> they produce soft, flare prone images and often suffer from other 
> optical aberrations. If one can comfortably use a Leica lens 
> manufactured in, say, 1955, a Leica lens which may not have even then 
> been up to the standards being set by Zeiss and Nikon, and a lens 
> which is now a Coke-bottle-bottom when compared to the latest Leica 
> lenses, why can't one buy a 5 mgp digital camera and be happy with it 
> for the next five to 10 years?

I'm not sure my first resopnse got through so I'll try again...

Film cameras are upgraded each time we buy a new emulsion.  Your analogy
would be more accurate if the collective 'we' were using old films in
our old cameras.  I certainly wouldn't be satisfied if I were still
using Kodachrome X or High Speed Ektachrome from the early 1970s, though
at the time they were very satisfactory films.  My 30-year-old cameras
are still quite usable and produce very satisfactory results with modern
films.


Doug Herr
Birdman of Sacramento
http://www.wildlightphoto.com
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