RE: [Leica] RE: Re: My last word on Hexar, really.

[Walter S Delesandri <walt@jove.acs.unt.edu>]

Does Craftsman have an M-mount body?.....Damn, I like their 
warranty... ;) :) :)

Walt

On Wed, 13 Sep
2000, B. D. Colen wrote:

> You know, guys, some world-class photo journalists and documentary
> photographers work with auto equipment - over which, of course, one has
> total manual control - and do far more meaningful and esthetically pleasing
> work than the vast majority of Leica M and R users. And, by the same token,
> a small number of Leica M and R shooters, working entirely in manual mode,
> do far more meaningful and esthetically pleasing work than the vast, vast
> majority of folks using autoeverything cameras. We're tallking about TOOLS
> here....some people like and use Stanley; some like and use Craftsman; some
> use nothing buy power tools; some use nothing but sweat powered tools.
> They're all tools.
> 
> B. D.
> A User Of Both Manual Photo Tools
> http://www.a-day-in-our-life.com
> A Day In Our Life...
> Documentary Photography
> of American Families
> 
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> > [mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of
> > Krechtz@aol.com
> > Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2000 12:39 PM
> > To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> > Subject: Re: [Leica] RE: Re: My last word on Hexar, really.
> >
> >
> > In a message dated 9/12/00 9:43:04 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> > jim_brick@agilent.com writes:
> >
> > << The Leica M will persist and continue doing an
> >  incredible job of providing just the right tools for those photographers
> >  who want to practice the craft of photography by exercising complete and
> >  total control, at all times, over the photographic process.
> >   >>
> >
> > I would add that in my experience the only consistent advantage that
> > automation, in any form, when it is working optimally, confers is
> > speed.  It
> > can and often does slow and even interfere with the photographic process
> > under conditions that are not within its design parameters.
> > To work like HC-B, one should still employ the same methods he
> > used 50 years
> > ago.  It is still best to set the exposure and focus prior to
> > bringing the
> > camera up to shooting position.  Otherwise, the opportunity can
> > pass while
> > the autofocus searches, possibly in vain, or the photographer desperately
> > tries to adjust the automated exposure to compensate for the bright
> > background that simply wasn't behind his or her moving subject a
> > moment ago.
> > This has been my experience, at least.
> > Given the latitude of today's negative emulsions, both color and black &
> > white, what purpose is served by fretting over whether meter accuracy is
> > within .1 stop tolerances?  With chromes, which I regularly shoot
> > with the M
> > system, for critical work bracketing is desirable if not necessary, with
> > virtually any camera system.
> > IME, the real long term effect of automation is to make the photographer
> > dependent upon it, forget basic skills and, in the process, lose
> > the "edge"
> > needed to obtain the best possible photograph under any given set of
> > circumstances.  Again, I speak in terms of what is generally understood,
> > particularly by the members of this group, as "classic" Leica RF
> > photography.
> >  It is a long recognized genre, in and of itself.  Theoretically,
> > it can be
> > done well with almost any 35.  In practice, almost any Leica clone works
> > reasonably well. However, as so many of us have learned after
> > years of trial
> > and error, it can be done best only with the admittedly imperfect and
> > "technologically challenged" Leica itself.  The whole - body, lens and
> > accessories - is greater than the sum of the many parts.
> > Is the Leica all things to all dedicated photographers?  No -
> > certainly not
> > since the popularization and automation of the SLR.  But it is
> > still best at
> > being a Leica, without apology; and it is still best at giving the Leica
> > photographer what he or she needs, without distractions.
> >
> > Joe Sobel
> >
> 
>