Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/06/23
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Chris, I hope you won't misunderstand my comments. I have a Nikon D70 as well as an FM3a and some used AIS lenses. I much prefer the "feel" of the AIS lenses to most of the modern AF ones, and I prefer the VF of the FM3a to that of the D70. There are still some older AI/S lenses that I would like to own - the 85/2 just for example. Give me that 52mm filter size any day :-) Similarly, in Leica gear, I like manual focus and metering, and I'd someday like to own a 50 Rigid for my B&W shooting (my mainstay). If Leica never builds a smaller RF camera, I might even pick up a clean, CLA'd III and a collapsible 50, since I shoot 50mm most of the time. I have some nice monographs of HCB, Winogrand, Marc Riboud, Eugene Smith and so on - famed Leica shooters all of them. *But* Nikon's product design, marketing and customer based doesn't fawn over the past excessively - vs. Leica's, which does. This is what I find disturbing - an excessive focus on the past. Similarly on the "German" thing. I don't find Germans distasteful. I simply believe that it just doesn't matter. Children are using excellent Sony Playstations all over the country and don't dwell on the Japanese origin of their toys. I have a Mercedes. It's a great car. Not a great "German car." Hell, it's probably built in Alabama or something. Same for BMW. It's the "Ultimate Driving Machine", not the "German Driving Machine." Similarly, manufacturered at plants in different countries. Same for Leica. I want to see a Leica that succeeds on the marketability and quality of their *current* crop of products, plain and simple. PRODUCTS. Past and national origin be damned. And I don't see it happening, and I believe it's killing the company. I want to see a Leica that moves RF photography forward; adopts current camera camera technology and adds their own innovation; cranks out a new body every year or two; produces a range of otherwise compatible cameras and lenses at different price points. A happy day for me would be a new cheaper polycarb Leica body and cheaper M mount lenses that sold like hotcakes (relatively) while inviting the ire and criticism of the "old timers." Just compare. Nikon F5/F6/D2X owners enjoy their nice, expensive and well apointed cameras and don't damn Nikon for selling a gadzillion cheaper D70's or N80s. So why the hoity toity Leica community? I don't like it one little bit. I cringe every time someone compares the "feel of the film wind" on some newer body to that of the M3. It's creepy. So the history is great, so long as it is the focus of neither new product design nor the current customer base. For Leica, the past is dragging it down. I for one, would love to see Leica purchased by a Japanese camera company. Scott cwoods wrote: >Dear Scott, >I generally don't respond frequently, especially to posts such as yours, >however, in this instance I simply had to write. Frankly, I find your post >"distasteful." I'm not sure what you intended when you wrote that "the >historical aspect of Leica culture sucks" but I've had just the opposite >reaction. Indeed, since I've inherited my Opa's Leica camera (yes, he was a >distasteful German) I've been thrilled with the many, many helpful and >interesting responses that LUG members have sent me about Leica, history, >etc.... As a young person, I very much enjoy learning about the past, both >the good and the tragic, and your comment seems to me, a slap in the face >to the many users of this site. I am also sorry you find the whole "German" >thing distasteful as well. There is no denying the tragic events of >history, but as part German (and part American), I find even the "current" >events of today frequently distasteful. If you find Germany and Leica so >offensive, please consider using an! > other camera (perhaps a disposable one so there is no historical culture > attached) and joining another group. I will not miss you. >auf wiedersehen.... >chris > >________________________________________ >PeoplePC Online >A better way to Internet >http://www.peoplepc.com > > >_______________________________________________ >Leica Users Group. >See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > >