Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/06/06
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 11:05 AM 6/6/98 -0400, you wrote: >it's Capa's commitment to documentary work that makes me wonder whether it >was a mistake make back in New York with film that wasn't meant to be taken You know, this reminds me of some photographers - one I work with. They don't put their pictures in order on the contact sheet. Could this be part of the reason this contact sheet is easy to misread, or read into it one's personal biased interpretation? I'm not saying who is or isn't right, but this should be considered too. (And people should stop this sloppy archiving technique. At least one of them has me for a boss. Change the world one photographer at a time...<G>) >Which of the R lenses are considered exceptional, especially among the wide- >angles? And, among the 19, 28, and 35 f2, can anyone tell me how I can be sure >to get the latest models via serial numbers? The 19 is a killer. I'd stack it up against any, repeat, any other 35mm format wide angle lens out there. Not just ultra-wides, but any lens. It controls flare to an amazing level, it's sharp, the tonal modulation is smooth as butter and it's just a pleasure to work with. I use mine a lot. The 35 Summicron is superb too. Exceptional flare control. But I prefer the 35 Summilux R. It does have some fall-off wide open, but it never bothered me. I rarely used it wide open in bright light anyway. The new 28 Elmarit is outstanding. Better than the M version so the consensus seems to be among those who have used both. I've used the older 28 Elmarit, and it was a wonderful lens, so this one has to be really special. How to tell if you're getting a newer one? Ask the salesman if it's the latest. With the 19, it will cost a lot more. A mint one runs about $1,800 or more USD. The new 28 has a built-in lens hood. The 35 current Summicron has 55mm filter threads, the 35 Summilux R is only available in one version. They were introduced in '84. And buy ROM versions. That's a pretty good indicator, but not foolproof, since some lenses can be adapted. >And, what kind of professional support does Leica offer? I don't expect >anything like Nikon or Cannon but there should be something out there. Pretty quick turnaround. And they have recently announced they do plan to support pros better than they have in the past. They have loaned me cameras before. But they somehow always forgot to get that 15mm loaner out to me when I wanted to shoot some underground murals painted by mental patients at the local mental hospital. Some how, I think when they checked my credit level it wasn't sufficient. :-) But that was 10 yeas ago. - -- Eric Welch St. Joseph, MO http://www.ponyexpress.net/~ewelch Actual newspaper headline, 1/17/77: "Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures"