[Leica] The LUG in a "state"

[Nick Hunter <nhunter1@mindspring.com>]

I let the posts pile up for a couple of days because I was just "e-mailed
out". When I downloaded...holy #*$@ ! about 90 messages since friday on
this one thread ("state of the art").!

Enough has been said comparing pro SLRs, I will say nothing, but in
grinding through it all, a couple of peripheral points caught my eye.

Eric wrote:
>Just like automatic transmissions keep people from driving cars? Please.

As a matter of fact, I bought my first stickshift car only a year ago: a
used Civic. At my age (I'm 40-something) some said I'd never really get
comfortable with it. While I was a road hazard for a little while, I can
now say I've never enjoyed driving so much. I understand shifters are on
the way out- even racing cars have automatics now (why does the party
always end when I get there?). But while you can prove that a professional
driver is faster, and will make more money with an automatic, you can't
deny the enjoyment I feel with my 5-speed. Hmmm, remind you of a certain
camera?  :)

Then Joseph Codispoti wrote:

>I am equally sure that when cellulose film was introduced there was an equa=
l
>outpouring of disgust from the earlier die-hards. I can just hear it: "Huh,
>only a lazy no good so and so would buy anything less than coat-=EBem-yours=
elf
>glass plates".

Well, I understand this was just an analogy, and not to make a big deal of
it; Dry (precoated) plates were available before cellulose base film, and
glass plates continued to be used for a long time for some serious
photography, at least into the 20's. They are still used for some
scientific/technical applications. When they fell from favor, some bemoaned
the lack of precise registration with film based materials. They were
right, too. Focussing errors actually aggregate from three sources-
focussing error (whether RF, AF, or ground glass) curvature of field, and
film placement. The first two have been discussed fully on the LUG, but the
latter is known to limit accurate focussing. Aside from the Contax RTS with
its vacuum back, glass plates are the most precise way to register focus.
So it seems no matter how far back you go, new technology involves some
tradeoffs. We can hardly expect electronic innovations to be different.

Nick Hunter