Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/05/12

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Subject: RE: [Leica] What Leica will be showing at Photokina
From: Jem Kime <jem.kime@cwcom.net>
Date: Fri, 12 May 2000 17:11:11 +0100

Steve,
I remember having a go at panning with m/cycles when I had a Rollei T, it 
was rather wacky (left to right reversed) to say the least. Then I did the 
decent thing and switched to the sports viewfinder, boy! That's even 
clearer than the Leica M!!

Jem ;-)
- -----Original Message-----
From:	Steve LeHuray [SMTP:icommag@toad.net]
Sent:	12 May 2000 15:51
To:	leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject:	Re: [Leica] What Leica will be showing at Photokina

Simon,
I guess that I have been there and done that too because in the early 
1970's
i worked as a pro photog shooting professional motorcycle races when there
was no such thing as auto focus and most of my contemporaries did not even
use a motor drive. My kit consisted of two Nikon F's with a 200mm and 50mm
lenses and a Sekonic meter. With this I had over 400 photos published in
American motorcycle magazines in both  color and B&W with several cover
shots. I know that this may sound extreme in today's terms but once on a
lark I decided to cover a big race with a Rollie TLR. Naturally I was the
butt of jokes all weekend but I ended up with a cover photo. I hate to say
this but I think there has been some dumbing-down of photography in the 
last
20 years.
Steve
Annapolis

- ----------
>From: "Simon Lamb" <s_lamb@compuserve.com>
>To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
>Subject: Re: [Leica] What Leica will be showing at Photokina
>Date: Fri, May 12, 2000, 9:54 AM
>

> Thanks for an interesting reply from someone who has been there and done 
it.
> I am amazed that people pay the money for USM Canon lenses and do not use
> the AF.  Guess you have to be good to use MF in fast action sports, 
although
> with F1 the cars are relatively predictable in that they generally go the
> same way round the track.  Bet they switch to MF is one spins off though, 
or
> else have shattering levels of manual dexterity.
>
> Simon
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Frank Dernie" <FrankDernie@compuserve.com>
> To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
> Sent: Friday, May 12, 2000 9:22 AM
> Subject: [Leica] What Leica will be showing at Photokina
>
>
>>
>> Simon Lamb wrote
>>   I agree that optically Leica lenses are outstanding (the best), but
>> outstanding optics
>> are useless if you want to photograph a Formula 1 car doing 180mph
> straight
>> towards you.  Horses for courses, and in the case of fast action
>> photography
>> Leica lenses could be second to some, where capturing the action is
>> secondary to the optical quality.  Don't get me wrong, I love the Leica
> and
>> wouldn't swap it.
>>
>>
>> Formula 1 was my business for 23 years. As a keen amateur I know all the
>> top F1 photogs. Almost all drool over my M6, which is of course not 
ideal
>> for anything but pit shots. Most feel Canon teles are better than Nikon
> and
>> none of the good ones use the auto focus function on the circuit - just
> for
>> snapshots in the pits (and then most of the really good ones use manual
>> focus in the pits too).
>> If anything has changed over the period I did F1 it is the demise of the
>> hand held meter. Whilst most of the good guys don't use auto focus a lot
>> they all use the in camera meter 95% of the time. In the old centre
>> weighted days almost nobody did.
>> FWIW only one guy uses Leica R (an Italian) and one Dutch guy does pit
>> candids in B&W using the most battered M6s imaginable.
>> cheers Frank
>