Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/06/06

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Subject: Re: M Body Construction
From: Dan Cardish <dcardish@microtec.net>
Date: Fri, 06 Jun 1997 10:44:52 -0400

At 09:39 AM 06-06-97 -0400, Marc wrote:
[snip]
>
>Both families are exceedingly well built.  The difference -- and one
>pointed out in the Pop article, though they catastrophically failed to
>understand the significance of the fact -- is that the earlier cameras have
>almost infinite adjustments at many points of there construction, allowing
>them to be fine-tuned like a set of Weber carburetters.  The later cameras
>have replaced a lot of these adjustments with 'go/no-go' parts:  that is,
>the part is either in spec or out of spec, and no adjustment is possible.
>If it is out of spec, then it is replaced. 

I can think of another example in the world of photography.  At the school
where I have taken a few photo courses, the enlargers they use are Beselers.
People love them because (among possibly many reasons) their alignment can
be adjusted to produce a sharp image in all four corners.  The problem is
that the enlargers at the school were invariably out of alignment, and were
a pain in the ass to re-align.  My enlarger at home is a Saunders 670DXL.
This enlarger cannot be aligned.  At first glance this seems like a
weakness, but in reality the enlarger doesn't need aligning, ever.  When I
use a glass negative carrier to keep the negative flat, the enlargement is
sharp in the corners to a degree I never see with the Beselers.  

Dan C.