Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/01/23
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]>>>the reason we use the M is not the camera, its the lenses which have transcended time with their wonderful resolution capabilities.<<< I don't agree. I started out thinking (in about 1986) that the whole point of the Leica M was the lenses, and that the camera was an antiquated, awkward body you had to put up with use the lenses. I now feel I was completely, 180-degrees wrong. The camera is the only one that has ever functioned as a teacher to me--it improved my shooting skills. It taught me to pay attention to nailing just the right moment; the value of stealth or surreptitiousness; the value of wearing a camera all day, every day; how not to rely too much on the viewfinder; how to depend on my own judgement rather than the automated judgements of the camera; and it taught me how much the simple enjoyment of working a fine mechanism can improve photography! The lenses are nice. But the camera is the thing to me. In fact, I should write an editorial arguing that EVERY photographer should use an M camera for a year as a part of his or her education. I actually do believe that! - --Mike