[Leica] Will that be another glass of schnapps Herr Collier?

[John Collier <jbcollier@shaw.ca>]

Well I finally got to try out a black paint MP 0.72. I hope no one will 
be offended by my opinions as they are not meant as personal criticisms 
but as comments on Leica in general.

Let's face it, the posers and fondlers have carried the day. I have 
always been grateful to them as they bought up every stupid SE that 
Leica produced. And by god did Leica ever produce a ton of them. That 
cash allowed Leica to survive and design the best set of optics money 
can buy. So I guess my attitude was benign indifference. As long as I 
can still buy the good stuff would cares what the black-paint-o-philes 
were doing. What the h*** do you b-p-o-ps do with this stuff if not 
photograph? Oh well, best not to know is my attitude; paraphrasing from 
Trudeau, the state has no place in the bedrooms of photographers. I do 
not want to be there either, thank you very much.

Now, however, I cannot buy a normal M camera from Leica. I am not very 
happy about this state of affairs and I do not intend to pull my 
punches. Those of you with weak constitutions should perhaps hit delete 
right now.

Black paint looks absolutely silly; shiny crow fodder. I do not want a 
black shiny camera with chrome highlights! Sure offer an option for the 
"----" crowd but at least keep the black chrome finish for 
photographers. I like the black chrome finish. It is not shiny when new 
and it goes all muddy and dull as it is used. Like any good tool, it 
disappears and becomes an extension of you. I do not want people to 
notice my camera! I do not want people to think I take photographs when 
I have free time from managing my girls!

The return to the knob rewind leaves me completely unable to 
communicate in a manner suitable for young people just out in society. 
I can only assume that NO ONE at Leica has done an afternoon's shoot 
with three or more cameras and 30 rolls of film consumed. The only 
polite thing I can say is shame on you Leica!

Now to the finder. Is it better? Yes, somewhat I guess. The praises I 
read on this list had me imagining a BRIGHTER and CLEARER finder. It is 
not really that at all. It still has the super-imposed patch wandering 
as your eye moves in the finder -- most noticeable at close focus. Not 
too much of a big deal with 0.72x but very significant with the 0.58x. 
Is the classic flare gone: yes, sort of. The patch slowly fades away as 
in my M2. I suppose that is better than the white out. Humorously, if 
you move your eye up, the finder flares! I thought it was pretty funny 
myself. Imagine the Herrs (not a reference to Doug) passing the camera 
around and slowly moving it from side to side. The twits thinking they 
have got it licked but never actually trying it out in a real situation.

Is the camera "mechanical perfection"? I did notice the wind-on was 
very slightly smoother. That's it. Just slightly smoother. Big hairy 
deal, says I. I have lost count of the hundreds of rolls I have pumped 
through my TTLs. They still work fine and shows every intention of both 
still working fine for many thousands of rolls to come.That is all that 
matters. I suppose my cameras are not a good judge of this as they have 
actually had film run through them and this may have "damaged" the 
wind-on and made it smoother.

I want an option of buying a camera for serious photography. If the 
pimps and posers have carried the day then at least issue special 
editions of REAL cameras. How about a black chrome M with a rewind 
crank? What's next a macro lens with eyes!

Never mind the glass Fritz, pass the bottle,

John Collier

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