[Leica] Comparative Review

[Mark Rabiner]

Semi-Pro here seems to be an editorial concept to cover the most expensive camera buying people. People who buy expensive cameras often call themselves “photographers”. 
A term which should mean “pro photographer” but even I don’t think that way anymore. Photography is different. A serious enthusiast is certainly a “photographer”. They could be shooting with a Pentax Spotmatic and one lens. (But making large well-crafted prints)
In general the more expensive and interesting the camera the person is wearing around their neck the less chance you’re going to see anything coming out of it. Maybe some direct to phone or tablet jpg with no intermediate processing but nothing with control or craft and certainly not a print. The better the camera the less interest in photography itself. “Henri Cartier who?”
I think the best way to get a sense of how dumb this article is would be to read the companion article:
“2017 Roundup: PRO Interchangeable Lens Cameras $2000” if it exists I’ve not looked yet.
That’s pro not semi pro.
Because “Pro” is way more a tellingly specific term than “Semi Pro” 
Because the term “Pro” could easily get more specific than the mean anything term “Semi Pro”.
Pro means you wake up in the morning and you go to work and that work is photography.
“Semi Pro” means someone payed them to take a picture once and now they trade one expensive camera for another one they just won on eBay.  
Even the term “Pro Photographer” currently gets assumed by anyone with a camera whose lens comes off.
Photography is different because unlike other endeavors if it’s going to get minimized and trivialized it’s just as often going to be done by those who profess to be in the middle of it; people calling themselves “photographers”. “Heck no I didn’t “Shop” that picture!”
-- 
The Rabs

Mark William Rabiner
Photographer

On 5/25/17, 1:30 AM, "LUG on behalf of Dan Khong" <lug-bounces+mark=rabinergroup.com at leica-users.org on behalf of dankhong at gmail.com> wrote:

    Jayanand
    
    It's all in the manner of definition.
    
    I suppose "pro gear", in one definition, are equipment that one would use
    to make a full time living out of. In the next breath, Leicas are luxury
    cameras that people can afford to indulge in after they have made their big
    bucks from another form of living.
    
    Uncle Ted might quality as one of the few exceptional individuals who rely
    fully on Leica. To him, Leica is pro gear. We are the guys who dilute it
    into semi-pro status. Tsk, tsk,
    
    So OK, whose LUG head is going to be the first on the chopping board?
    
    Dan K.
    
    On Thu, May 25, 2017 at 11:36 AM, Jayanand Govindaraj <jayanand at gmail.com>
    wrote:
    
    > Leica a semi-pro camera manufacturer? Blasphemy! Off with their heads! :-)
    >
    > https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/2017-roundup-semi-pro-
    > interchangeable-lens-cameras
    >
    > Cheers
    > Jayanand
    >
    > _______________________________________________
    > Leica Users Group.
    > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
    >
    
    _______________________________________________
    Leica Users Group.
    See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information