Re: The Leica of...

[Mike Gardner <mikeg@neca.com>]

Ben Holmes wrote:
> 
> Someone used the phrase "The Leica of..." when extolling the virtues of
> something he felt was a world class item. It's funny how these cameras have
> become iconic to us in that we hold them up as a standard of quality.
> 
> I have always (as long as I can remember) been attracted to such items.
> Orvis reels, Armani shirts, Fenco pruning shears - the list goes on. Or does
> it? It seems that there are fewer and fewer items that we can point to today
> and say, positively, "this is the BEST that the world has to offer.". Not to
> get completely off the beaten path but what happened to our sense of
> quality? Why doesn't the world expect more from the things that we buy?
> 
> When I try to explain my choice of cameras to people who ask, the light just
> doesn't come on for most of them. I try to explain the magic of owning
> something that is made so well and they don't get it. If it doesn't say
> "Craftsman" they couldn't care less, does anybody follow what I'm saying?
> 
> Curious,
> 
> ,/8^|

Yes, ,/8^l I follow exactly.  I have been fortunate to have a friend
who, though of modest means, appreciates quality and introduced me to
Leicas,  Orvis reels and Winston fly rods and encouraged me to pursue
excellence
in all endeavors and not quantity.
I think that in the US and perhaps elsewhere, the mall mentality and
the gluttonous consumerism that have become the norm have deprived many
people of the chance to even know what quality means. When every store
they enter offers only cheap merchandise made in asian sweatshops what
choice do they have?                                              
Perhaps the use of a fine tool such as the Leica also helps to inspire
a pursuit of excellence in photography.
Mike G

ps: I did, rather recently, have another photographer come up to me one
day and ask "How do like them 'leekahs'?"  Just fine, I said. Just fine.