Re: [Leica] Rotring pencil

["Giorgio Ferrari" <fergio@galactica.it>]

Welcome back Erwin! I'm very interested in your book. Please tell us how to
buy it.
Only one thing: are you really sure that Rotring pens are so similar to
Leica products? And Omas, Waterman, Visconti, Mont Blanc, Monte Grappa and
so on?

All the best,

Giorgio Ferrari
"fergio@galactica.it"

- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Erwin Puts" <imxputs@knoware.nl>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Saturday, July 15, 2000 2:30 PM
Subject: [Leica] Rotring pencil


> My book is finally off to the printer, and after having been shut off from
> the world during the last six months, I have to say that a prolongued
> detachment from habits is quite refreshing. I stepped into the Lug when
Jim
> B, acurate as usual, notes that some Leica users prefer to cherish their
own
> views and perceptions  above a search for true facts about Leica and/or
> Leica technique and that the Lug is recycling the same content too often.
It
> is dangerous to make reliable statements here as we must note, that the
Lug
> may be a collection of 700-odd persons, but 95% of those that are on the
> list, never have said a word in the public space. The 20-odd persons, who
> are filling our mail boxes, represent 20 views, no more no less. On the
> total of let us assume 200.000 active Leica users all over the world, this
> is a tiny fraction, statistically at least. The Leica booth at Arles this
> year, has been visited by a multitude of this quantity. From a perspective
> of information content and value, one week in Arles is worth more than two
> years at the Lug. A sobering view, indeed!
> The heading now. I allowed myself to buy a propelling pencil of the marque
> of Rotring, the equivalent of Leica in the world of pencils and fountain
> pens. It is standard equipment of engineers and other people who have to
> make sketches and accurate drawings. One pencil costs more than a inkjet
> printer and does only one thing: it draws lines on a piece of paper. But
it
> is of exquisite engineering, superb feeling and ergonomics, it has style
and
> elegance and craftsmanship. You can make art with such a pencil and a
highly
> accurate drawing, like a lens design. Using such a drawing instrument,
fills
> you with confidence and forces you to do the best you can. You owe it the
> instrument to become a master.
> Anyone can sense the analogy with Leica photography.
> The Leica is a photographic instrument and it would be very supportive of
> the camera and its lenses if we, serious students and users of leica
> equipment, would share information that enhances the use and quality of
the
> results. And have an open mnd to true facts. did you know that the humble
> Minox lens is closer to diffraction limited optical quality than many a
> Leica lens. Why then can we not see this in Minox pictures. Because there
is
> more to real mage quality than just a list of qualifications.
> The new Contax SLR with AF will generate zillions of emails on the Lug,
that
> the leica company is in serious danger, that the management has missed an
> opportunity, that now the R8 is a dead duck,etc. The only reliable
> information (sales figures) is not yet available, so this topic is dead
> before it even has started.
> We, the leica users, have made a conscious decision to buy into the
various
> Leica systems, after weighting the evidence and this decision has been
made
> while Nikon, Canon etc offer outstanding AF models and still we choose an
M
> or R. So what is the relevance of a new Contax AF for that decision to our
> use of the camera. (Let the Leica managers study the strategic impact (if
> any)). None at all: do we enjoy our camera less? If so, you should have
> bought one of many AF models. Will our pictures be a lesser quality? No,
> because they would be of the same quality as before.
> Like the Rotring pencil, an instrument is selected for its intrinsic worth
> and value, not compared to any other instrument.
> After thirteen years of conscious Leica photography and seven years of
> dedicated testing and trying to find the optimum imaging chain for the
> Leica, I have to confess that I am not even halfway on my road to image
> quality, at least as I perceive this.
> The quest for image quality and satisfaction of use would be high on my
> topic list for the Lug. If I need to study the competition, I know of more
> rewarding venues and if I need management info about the company or its
> strategy, the comments on the Lug are a bit thin.
> I find the trend to digital printing disconcerting as it is easy to
> calculate that the potential image quality of a leica lens is in jeopardy
> when being handled digitally. It might be satisfactory for commercial or
> personal use, no doubt and there is no argumant against the digital print.
> If I read here and elsewhere that Leica is selected because of its optical
> potential, there is certain contradiction here.
> It would make a most rewarding discussion if we could find and describe
the
> borderline cases and the real limits of image degradation by digital
> printing or in a positive approach, how to maximise the leica quality.
Such
> a topic would transgress the eternal and often pointless discussion about
> the use of filters.
>
> Erwin
>
>