Re: [Leica] The Leica Mystique

[George Ivanyo <gti@bellatlantic.net>]

Me, too.  Thanks, Bud.

George




felix tian wrote:
> 
> Hi, Bud,
> 
> Thanks for sharing.
> 
> Can I have a full copy of the article?
> 
> Many thanks!
> 
> Felix  Tian
> 
> --- Bud Cook <budcook@ibm.net> wrote:
> > In the July/August 1995 issue of Darkroom & Creative
> > Camera Techniques,
> > Carl
> > Weese wrote a piece called The Leica Mystique.  This
> > piece was reprinted
> > and
> > distributed by Leica.   As a long time Leica user, I
> > found it to be very
> >
> > interesting.  I've included a (very) few excerpts
> > below and can send the
> > entire
> > piece as e-mail to anyone who is interested.   Just
> > let me know if you
> > want it.
> >
> > The original piece is about 16,000 characters.
> >
> > Bud Cook
> >
> >
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > ............'Leica partisans may display a loyalty
> > that seems truly
> > fanatic,
> > but they seldom engage in one-on-one comparisons
> > with other cameras
> > because,
> > quite simply, there is no competition for the Leica
> > M.  A 35mm, all
> > manual,
> > interchangeable-lens, optical rangefinder camera,
> > the M is not only the
> > original but also the only surviving example of its
> > breed.  Its
> > adherents go
> > beyond brand loyalty in their attachment to this
> > camera; for many, the
> > relationship can truly be described as a romance.'
> >
> > Ergonomics
> >
> > .................'It is a miracle of ergonomics,
> > designed before the
> > very
> > term came into common use.  This is of no small
> > importance.  The
> > ergonomic
> > comfort of the camera is the first element of the
> > intense shooting style
> > it
> > fosters, which influences the pictures Leica
> > photographers make.  It is
> > this
> > shooting style which I suspect is at the heart of
> > the Leica Mystique.'
> >
> > Those Leica Lenses
> >
> > ................... '35 mm Summilux (f/1.4) was a
> > breakthrough lens when
> > it
> > was introduced and its design reflects a number of
> > compromises.  Wide
> > open,
> > it has very low contrast (that as we've just seen
> > can be beneficial) and
> >
> > also suffers from coma, which renders point light
> > sources as smeared
> > shapes.
> > I think this defect is so beautiful, that while my
> > standard 35 mm lens
> > is
> > now the current Summicron, I keep and use my
> > 27-year-old Summilux for
> > it's
> > unique, idiosyncratic image qualities.'
> >
> >
> > Camera Handling: The Leica Style
> >
> > ...........'By contrast there is nothing seductive
> > about the view
> > through
> > the Leica's finder.  It's just a one-eyed look at
> > the world tinted
> > slightly blue
> > and reduced to three-quarters life size.'
> >
> > ............'With AF, when making a fast shot it is
> > all too easy to make
> >
> > pictures perfectly focused on the wrong thing.  Or
> > to make sharply
> > focused
> > images with the invariable stylistic device of a
> > main subject dead
> > center in
> > the frame.  With this pre-focus technique you can
> > shoot at lightning
> > speed
> > while using the viewfinder purely for framing.  This
> > can lead to better
> > pictures.'
> >
> > Leica Technique
> >
> > ........'Totally manual control, rangefinder viewing
> > and focusing,
> > dimunutive size, quiet operation, specialized lenses
> > maximized for
> > certain shooting
> > conditions; this is a set of attributes that stakes
> > out a specific
> > photographic territory for the Leica.  If these
> > attributes are the
> > perfect
> > ones for the kind of pictures a photographer wants
> > to make, it may be
> > the
> > only tool that is needed.'
> >
> >
> 
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