Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/05/08

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Subject: Re: [Leica] A way of photographing and autofocus.
From: Martin Howard <marho@ikp.liu.se>
Date: Sat, 08 May 1999 16:26:52 +0200

Peter K wondered:
>  
> I guess since sensuous is a means of affecting the senses a camera
> could do it, but what senses does the camera affect?  Taste? Smell?
> Hearing? Sight? Taste?
>

Ugh!  Tactile, anyone?  Operating a Leica is definately a sensuous from
a tactile point of view.  I'd include hearing too: the soft "snick" of
the shutter (although not a sensuous as a Rolleiflex leaf shutter) is
a delight to hear, compared to the whirring of autoeverything, carbon-
fibre clad formula 1 cameras.

Looking through the rangefinder of an M3 is also a sensuous experience:
The near 1.0 magnification, the clear view and the slightly yellow,
hovering brightlines.  Interestingly, I don't get the same feel from
the M2's VF, because of the wider field of view.

Smell?  Yes, there can be.  My 1932 Leica II's vulcanite has a definate
smell, which is hard to describe, but quite distinctive (I guess it
could be 67 years of grubby hands... ;-).  Lubricants also give off
smells in small quantities, which are detectible indoors with the camera
to the eye.

So yes, I would argue that using a Leica is very definately a sensuous
experience.  I don't lick my cameras, but short of that they affect
pretty much all the senses and add to the experience of using them.

M.

- -- 
Martin Howard, Grad. Schl. for Human-Machine Interaction,  |
HMI/IKP, Linkoping University, SE-581 83 Linkoping, Sweden.|    Just
Tel: +46 13 28 5741; Fax: +46 28 2579; ICQ: 354739         | say "DOOH"
E-mail: marho@ikp.liu.se; www.iav.ikp.liu.se/staff/marho/  +------------