Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/01/17

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Subject: RE: [Leica] Minority?
From: "Kotsinadelis, Peter (Peter)" <peterk@lucent.com>
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2000 07:24:17 -0800

Mike Johnston wrote:

<edited>
Add me to the minority. I wouldn't use the word "dumb" but I can only
think of one great Leica photographer who used flash, Lee Friedlander,
and he used it only sometimes (he is quoted somewhere saying he started
using flash because he wanted to play with his cameras indoors after
dark, and the available light sucked. Well, I guess he didn't use the
word "sucked." But anyway, he went on to do some significant work with
flash, including some of his nudes and the "Factory Valley" work).
Almost all the great Leica photography has been done using available
light.
<edited>
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------

That's because in Leica's heydays flash was a pain.  Nowadays, with fewer
using it Leica needed something to attract people and TTL Flash was one
feature they added.
Mike, now how many "living" great Leica photographers do you know of these
days?  Fewer than say those using SLRs?  Perhaps that is a good reason.
After all Leica is long past its heyday but did need something to attract
users or at least keep them from going to more modern Rangefinders like the
Contax G and perhaps the new Konica Hexar M.

Peter K