Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/07/30

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Subject: RE: [Leica] Re: quality of Leica images
From: "B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 11:06:58 -0400

Alan Ball <AlanBall@csi.com> wrote . . .

>I have yet to meet a professional photographer professionally using
Leica gear in the press activities I attend to. And
I attend to a lot of press activities. If the image quality difference
was as spectacular as argued by yourself and other dedicated
Leicaphiles, I sincerely believe those people who rely on the selling
of images to make a living would not hesitate to switch to Leica in
order to  gain a competitive advantage.
 -----------------------

REPLY:

First, I think that most of us would think that it's rather unusual that
you've never seen any press photographers with Leicas, but...

I think the issue here is cost, rather than quality. Twenty-five years ago
you would always have seen a mix of equipment. But with the cost of
equipment today, and the fact that most newspapers are N and C equipped, and
therefore have lots of extra gear for those systems, you're less likely to
see Leica.  I seem to recall that back in the late 70s the National
Geographic, which provided equipment to its staff photographers, stopped
supplying or replacing Leica equipment simply because the price differential
was far outstripping the difference in quality. I'm sure there are NG
contract photographers who use Leicas, but the bottom line seems to be the
dollar.