[Leica] Visoflex

[Mike Johnston <michaeljohnston@ameritech.net>]

Just a brief comment--I wonder if some of the people "discussing" the
Visoflex have in fact never owned, used, or perhaps even seen one. This
fascinates me, because I perceive there to be a real difference between
what intuitively appeals to people and what actually works well.
Capitalist apologists are fond of saying that the market develops
exactly the products consumers want, and therefore it's a perfect means
for getting the ideal kinds of products; but I personally think that the
market is good at giving up products we THINK we want, before we own or
use them. IOW, products are perfectly designed to sell, but many
products with great intuitive sales appeal turn out to be not so great,
and some truly great products die because too many people make up their
minds about it based on intuitive appeal before ever actually trying
them.

It seems odd to me, but American consumers at least tend to collude in
this arrangement in a strange way; we tend to believe that we CAN make
up our minds without firsthand experience, i.e., by "shopping the spec
sheet."

The Visoflex seems an example of something with limited "hands-off" or
"mind's eye" appeal. However, I'm not aware of hearing much but quite
admiring comments from people who actually own and use them. I
personally try to be careful about making up my mind about things I
haven't actually tried. Of course I still do rush to judgement,
sometimes--it's tough not to--but it's worth trying to be careful about
.

- --Mike

P.S. It's very easy to convert an SLR into a rangefinder--I've done it
many times. It's a two-step process: 1. sell the SLR. 2. use the money
to buy a rangefinder. It's worked for me every time.