Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/05/01
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 10:18 AM 5/1/98 -0700, you wrote: >I think that, in the future, when you try to remove that gummy, old, hardened, >black tape, you will ruin the camera much more than any small ding or scratch >would.. Actually, I regularly replace the tape when it begins to lose its grip - and "virgin" Leica black crome and red dot emerges ....I would not DREAM of putting any kind of tape or bandage on my >Leica >M6! It would be sacrilege and utter disrespect for the fine equipment we >all love! I don't know about you, but I love the equipment because it is the tool that best suits my photographic purposes. It's small, quite, extremely well made, and uses great lenses. While I get a charge out of the fact that HC-B and a number of other greats used Leicas, that's not why I use them. A number of greats use far less expensive and regal equipment to great effect - - Eugene Richards, who won Magazine Photographer of The Year this year, two years ago, and in 1989, and who also won the Robert F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award this year, uses battered OM3s and Canon F1s. Yes, Leitz makes terrific photographic equipment, but... >It is only in photographic circles that anyone would be impressed by my Leica, >first of all, and most of my models or friends who see it think I am using an >old clunker, and have no clue that I have $10,000 around my waist. >Secondly, the average thief on the street would not look twice at my black >Leica, >which looks like a cheap P&S from afar, and would be more concerned with >acquiring the wallet in my pocket or the gold watch on my wrist. And even >if some clown were to steal my M6, that's what insurance is for, n'est-ce pas? You're right - the average thief wouldn't know what a Leica is - but there are plenty of above average thieves who would. And I would also guess that most of your friends may not know what bokah is, but have heard the name Leica. And as to the earlier comment that putting tape on a Leica is like putting bumper stickers on a Mercedes - I suppose it is. But to me, a Mercedes is a car. A great car, but a car. If I'm the kind of person who puts bumper stickers on his car - and I don't happen to be one - and I drove a Mercedes - - and can't afford to drive one but wish I could ;-) - I'd put the bumper sticker on the Mercedes. After all, it's only a bumper and it's only a car. And a Leica is only a camera, not our passport to imortality.