Re: [Leica] And the Gauntlet just lies there..or...How about a reality check?:-).

["B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>]

At 08:42 AM 1/18/00 -0500, you wrote:
>I have over 60 current generation lenses for Contax SLR, Contax G2, Canon EOS
>and Leica M systems.  I am unable to distinguish among photos taken with
>equivalent lenses for prints up to 8 x 10.  Moreover, I find no differences
>in the "look" among lens families.  It would interesting to have a controlled
>study done on this issue of the differences in results.
>
>That said, I remain fascinated by lens testing and am a big supporter of such
>testing.  I particularly an interested and appreciative of Erwin's tests.  I
>believe him.  He has my confidence.  Even if I can see no differences in my
>prints, I like to know the (unused) qualitative differences.
>
>Tom Shea
I think Tom makes an excellent point, and one that many if not most on this 
list would rather ignore - in terms of real world use, by real 
photographers, making prints and repros for real world uses, it's damn hard 
if not impossible to tell a Leica shot from a Canon from a Nikon from, from 
a Zeiss shot, or, for that matter, a Minolta shot. Does this mean that 
testing isn't valuable? Of course not. Testing will reveal differences and 
flaws that it helps to know about when making lens choices. Just because a 
print from one lens doesn't look "better" than a print of a photo taken by 
another doesn't mean that the first lens doesn't have qualities - say flare 
suppression, for example, that will be invaluable in a given situation. 
Further, the results of lens testing can be inherently interesting.

But will we ever get beyond this "mine is bigger than yours" crap relating 
to brand names, and concentrate on photography with the camera we all 
prefer? We seem to miss the point, stressed by Erwin over and over in his 
test reports, that most photographers, shooting under "real-world" 
conditions, do not begin to have the skills and abilities to make use of 
that final x% of lens quality that may well be the difference between an L 
lens and an N or C lens.

B. D.