Re: [Leica] Leica-what do pros use?

[apbc <apbc@public1.sta.net.cn>]

Just to follow up about my earlier intention to make an informal poll of 
the white house press corps and their camera usage: most of the white 
house press corps I saw today use Canon closely followed by Nikon with 
one guy using the Fuji medium format 645 zoom af thing and one using the 
G2 with 35mm. Lots of wide range zooms (35-350, 28-200, 24-120 etc). Fuji 
800 seems pretty standard. Not one Leica in sight - not even mine since 
having researched the site yesterday I knew I would need a zoom, high 
sync flash and fast rewinding for the very short window of opportunity 
and restricted angle of view I had.

About 1/3 of the Canons and Nikons were digital! I was told Reuters is 
moving to 100% digital (Canon) in Asia from now on (when the bulk of 
their newly-equipped photographers get back from the world cup in France) 
at least with staff photographers - can't imagine many freelancers would 
be willing or able to pay for $15,000 bodies every other year... I would 
not want to either.

Now the White House is the most lucrative patch of all for press 
photographers and the total absence of Leicas was quite surprising though 
I know for a fact that quite a few of these guys have Leicas at home (if 
only because I sold some of my old eqpt to them): they don't use them 
much simply because it is not the right tool for most/all of their work. 
They could certainly afford them. Digital cameras are pretty quiet and 
high speed film/digital and AF in the right hands means they can work 
fast and discretely when necessary so where does the Leica fit in?

I would be the first to admit that the white house press corps does not 
produce cutting edge photojournalism on a daily basis - there is little 
to distinguish their White House work from PR photography IMHO given the 
extent of control and spin-doctoring they are under - but many of these 
guys come from hard-nosed PJ backgrounds and know how to get the best 
picture in the most difficult situations and what it takes equipment-wise 
to do that: quantum battery packs, Domke bags and other fine tools are 
side-products of their work for which we can all be grateful. 

But if Leica does not have much credibility amongst such photojournalists 
where will it find a market in future? I believe Leica needs to try very 
hard now to gain acceptance in the markets it has lost amongst pro 
photographers or they will find themselves the Bugattis of the photo 
world: well-crafted, beautiful, highly collectible, exhilarating to use 
but bankrupt and forgotten by most. 

Perhaps Remington typewriters are a better analogy...

Let's try in our various ways to envisage a way forward fpr this company 
which seems to have lost its way over the years!!!!

Adrian Bradshaw
Photojournalist
Shanghai, China