Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/04/16

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Compositions and different focussing systems (was 75'lux focusing)
From: Eric Welch <ewelch@ponyexpress.net>
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1999 09:26:30 -0500

At 10:30 PM 4/16/99 +1000, you wrote:
>It's not a technical argument of whether SLRs have better optics than
>rangefinders or vice versa - it is an issue of what aspects of a camera
>subtly influence our composition.

Chandos said:

>If this is plausible, then it make sense when Leica users claim that they 
>see something in Leica images that they don't see in Nikon or, say, Canon 
>images, and when SLR users dismiss this as nonsense.

I reacted to say this is nonsense. Maybe he didn't mean optical 
differences, but the implication here is that there is no difference other 
than visual cues it was done by a rangefinder. I stated that when people 
refer to the Leica look, it's much more than that. That the R line has the 
"Leica look" as well. It's a matter of what people mean by that phrase that 
caused the misunderstanding.

You say:

>With a rangefinder, of course, you are tied to the focussing square. With an
>SLR you are not

Yes, quite true.

>My personal tendency is not to greatly change the composition once I have
>focussed.

In this case, I could see how using a rangefinder would make a difference. 
But it's not anything that could be called "The Leica look." It's more like 
weakly composed pictures. What if the thing you're focusing on is at the 
edge of the frame? Too many picture are weakened by placing the subject 
smack in the middle.

>My personal view is that a greater influence on composition is the fact
>that, with an M series, you can see outside the frame of the shot you are
>taking.  For myself, this leads to a far greater power of selection over
>what is in and outside the image.

How do you square this with the previous statement? Sounds like you're more 
sophisticated in your compositional skills than you implied in the earlier 
statement.

The problem with Chandos' post was he compared apples and oranges and I 
thought he was comparing apples and apples. What do I mean apples and 
oranges? He mentions Nikon and Canon, when they don't make rangefinders. 
They used to, and I submit those cameras (which are the contemporaries of 
many cameras in use today by LUGnuts) have the same "look" compositionally. 
Thus to call that the "Leica look" is inaccurate. But that never stopped 
anyone.

Eric Welch
St. Joseph, MO
http://www.ponyexpress.net/~ewelch

My computer's sick. I think my modem is a carrier.