[Leica] Leica creative control.....

[Five Senses Productions <fls@home.com>]

I too am one of the younger members of the LUG, and I also
grew up around fully automatic cameras.  My first was a Nikon
N70.  I then went to an N90S.  I graduated next to the F5.
Believe it or not, my next step was a Leica R8.  My most
recent switch was to my beloved M6 and M6HM.

I have tasted both sides, and I don't prefer Leica because
of its lack of automation.  I prefer Leica because of its
OPTICS.  Nikon glass, Canon glass, etc., cannot approach
the quality of Leica.  Plain and simple.  If Nikon produced
the finest, best-crafted lenses in the world, I would dump
Leica and go to Nikon again.  If Canon's lenses started 
beating Leica, I would go to Canon.  I go where the best 
optics are and I stay there.  If Leica and Zeiss are out
of the picture, I think Nikon and Canon are about even in terms
of optics.  Introduce Leica and Zeiss, and Nikon and Canon
are second class.

I admit.....I loved the F5 (I still own one!) for many reasons....
ergonomics, AF, AE, built in bracketing, all the stuff that lets
me concentrate more on making photos.  BUT, for Leica glass
I am willing to give up all that because I am a quality freak.
I accept that the M6 is quite primitive in design, and I am
learning to live with it and LOVE it for the images it produces.
In fact, I have learned MORE about the mechanics and technical 
aspects of photography in the short time I have been using Leica
that I would have learned by now if I had still been using the F5.  
A camera like that lets one get lazy and photography becomes
robotic.  Sure, the camera will never decide composition for us,
but I feel so much more satisfaction when I see a good photo I 

made with the M6 because I know I had to think and analyze the 
situation MYSELF to create that image.

Francesco