Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/12/07
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]The December issue of Vanity Fair includes a story about the four famous combat photographers, Larry Burrows, Henri Huet, Keisaburo Shimamoto, and Ken Potter who disappeared then their chopper was shot down over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in 1971. All four are shown carrying M-Leicas on the job. No surprise here. What is also interesting, however, is the shot of Horst Faas, veteran Vietnam War combat photographer and twice Pulitzer winner. The shot, on p. 286, shows Fass and the article author in the jungle at the probable site of the chopper wreckage. Fass has a slr with "300mm lens" and a Contax G2! If an honored and seasoned combat photographer packs a G2 into the jungle I would say it is a serious camera. One might reasonably speculate he has plenty of choices, including M-Leicas. The G2 has an auxiliary viewfinder mounted so I presume he is using one of the wide-angle lens options. Further, one might presume that he did not select that camera just for its AF feature since the DOF of the 16mm and 21mm lenses almost eliminate the need for AF. Maybe the G2 is as good as some on this list have claimed. A number of Nikkon lenses were recovered in the wreckage and "a piece if Leica camera body with serial number 996767 intact,... It was a M3, thought to have belonged to Burrows, Finally, a Ricoh GR1 was offered for sale or trade on the list. It really is a point and shoot camera, a superb one with an outstanding lens. I got "the last one in Malaysia" last February. Bill Lawlor