Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2011/06/30
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Well put! Once your individual requirements are met, and the photos work for you (and/or your clients) the rest is, well, just the rest. If that's a "Diana" so be it. Years back, one of the camera systems I worked with was mounted on fighter aircraft, capable of exposing 6 (30 x 5 inch) frames per second, phenomenal imagery...terrible for weddings, though! ;-) Montie >>I have been listening to this debate with great interest. What amazes me is the feeling that something a technical reviewer (Erwin Putts) touches on seems to be more believable than seeing actual photographs (Sonny Carter's). I sort of come away with the feeling that we have lost our ability to make our own judgements. Blame it on the internet where unproven opinion is so easy to get! (-: My view on this subject is very simple - shoot with the lens you have - in normal viewing conditions, for 99.99% of photographers in the whole wide world, it does not matter whether the lens is stellar or it is a dog. Camera equipment should be purchased purely based on requirement - for example, I carry the fastest long lenses that I can find and bodies that are exceptional performers in low light because the subjects I enjoy photographing require it. I am far more casual about what I use at the wide/normal end, it is just not that important. Equally, I do not understand why one would buy Leica M lenses instead of CV or Zeiss if one is not going to shoot wide open for the most part. But that is just me. Take both the London photographs I posted the other day - both are taken with what would pass as crappy amateur Nikon zooms in any technical review - 'Wild Dogs' was shot with (the horror!) a kit lens that came with the D70 - a slow 18-70mmDX. 'Reflections' was shot with an all-in-one 18-200DX lens, even worse. I like both these lenses, and have found them very good for casual travel in conjunction with a light, small body. Both these shots were submitted for Print Exchanges (Letter/A4 size) in the past with no adverse comment on the crappiness of the lens or print. At least I print - the great majority of users of photographic equipment nowadays just post online - for them the quality of lenses is irrelevant. As I have said many times in the past, you might see greater detail with great lenses, but not up to 19'x13' prints at normal viewing distances - this is my conclusion based on careful study of my collection of 1000+ prints emanating from Print Exchanges, both colour and B&W, as well as numerous prints that I continue to purchase for my collection. See my Travel Folder - all the photographs except 'Wild Dogs' (D70+18-70mm kit lens) and "Lakeside" (GF1+20mm) were taken with the Nikon D40x and the 18-200DX lens, a distinctively lowbrow combo!: http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/ireland/ Cheers Jayanand