Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/09/28
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I know what you're talking about, John; and I agree. However, I still try to be as unobtrusive and as undistracting as possible, and I continue to believe that it's easier to for my subjects to ignore a black thing, than the glint of a chrome thing. My goal is to minimize the distraction -- not to avoid detection. >I hear this all the time on this list but it flies in the face of my >shooting experience. I have had both silver chrome and black chrome M >cameras and the black chrome cameras get noticed and commented on far more >often than the silver chrome cameras. In HCB's day all cameras were silver >chrome and to have a black one, by paint or by tape, would make it >unrecognisable to the then general public. Our general public is conditioned >by television into thinking that black chrome (or plastic) cameras are >"professional". People who no nothing at all about cameras, ask questions >about my black chrome M as it is a "serious" camera. If you are shooting in >the "Western" world, the best choice is silver chrome. > >John Collier > >> From: Austin Burbridge <Austin.Burbridge@Alumni.Brown.edu> >> >> Terry, I bought a black M6 because, for street photography, it is >> less noticeable, less obtrusive -- which is why I put bits of black >> photographic tape* over the red dot and the bright white "Leica" on >> its face. >> >> That Henri Cartier-Bresson covered the chrome parts of his Leica with >> black tape, is part of Leica lore. >> >> Were unobtrusiveness not a factor, I would prefer the chrome Leica, I >> think its looks are much cooler, more 'classic', more 'Leica'. >>