Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/01/31
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LUGGERS,
Many years ago, Walter Moffatt, then Manager of Leica Technical in the
US (now retired) said, "F/8 is the great equalizer. Any good lens will give
excellent performance at f/8, but really great lens will give excellent
performance f/2.8." Believe it or not, there are other very good lenses out
on the market.
Secondly, it is my understanding at the National Geographic, they have
always supplied their STAFF photographers with whatever equipment they
wanted, regardless of brand. (Today, they only have five or six staffers.)
Furthermore, they would repair or replace the equipment of non-staff
contract photographers and some other free lancers, if it was damaged on a
Nat Geo assignment. Contract and free lancer have to supply their own basic
gear. Specialized stuff is either supplied by or created by the men of the
equipment room.
A few years ago, when Jim Stanfield was using Leica reflex cameras,
there was some talk about the high cost of the maintenanceon his cameras.
(They went to Leica USA after each assignment.) Their idea of how to save
money was to have one of their techs undergo training at Leica Germany after
a Photokina.
I hope this clears up some of the questions.
Happy Snapping,
Sal DiMarco, Jr.