Re: [Leica] Re: Leicaholic

["Mitch Brown" <leicameter@hotmail.com>]

It will be alright as long as you don't develop advanced cirrhosis of the 
wallet in which case you might require a transplant to a lowly Canon or 
Nikon in order to carry on.


>From: "Craig Semetko" <csemetko@earthlink.net>
>Reply-To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
>To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
>Subject: [Leica] Re: Leicaholic
>Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2001 08:14:41 -0800
>
>Martin,
>
>You have no idea how disturbingly accurate this is. (I'm currently in the
>R-series 100 APO petunia phase)
>
>Have you ever considered becoming a Profiler for the FBI?
>
>Craig
>
>
>Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 22:33:02 -0500
>From: Martin Howard <howard.390@osu.edu>
>Subject: [Leica] <no subject>
>Message-ID: <B6A8CF1E.59D7%howard.390@osu.edu>
>References:
>
>Juan Buhler recently admitted to Leicalust, thinking that he would be able
>to survive the condition without succumbing to the full-blown symptoms.  
>How
>sadly mistaken he is.  He wrote:
>
> > Anyone selling a beat-up, working non TTL black M6?
>
>You see M6 classics in EX/EX+ condition for around $1100-$1300 these days.
>They seem to hold pretty stable around there.
>
> > Otherwise, does anyone have any tips on how to avoid falling into
> > an endless spiral of expensive body and lens purchasing?
>
>That is impossible.  You will spent more than you bargained or thought
>possible on Leica lenses.  You will initially get one body and one lens 
>(one
>of 35mm/50mm/90mm).  Then you will rationalize that a useful minimum kit
>really consists of all three lenses (35mm/50mm/90mm).  In the meantime, you
>may acquire one or more of the new Cosina LTM lenses just for fun, but they
>don't really count.
>
>Having acquired all three, you'll notice that (a) that you miss your best
>shots when you are changing lenses, (b) changing lenses is cumbersome, (c)
>there are different bodies with different viewfinder magnifications and 
>that
>you really do need that higher mag VF to get the most out of your 90mm 
>lens.
>So, you will buy a second body.  In the meantime you may have picked up a
>Bessa-L or an old IIIc for some of those LTM lenses, but they don't really
>count.
>
>Suddenly, you'll start to notice how some of the most fabulous looking
>photographs are taken with the 50mm f/1.0 Noctilux, the 75mm f/1.4 
>Summilux,
>or the 35mm f/1.4 ASPH.  You'll start to notice that different Leica lenses
>of the same focal length have different imaging characteristics and you'll
>use this to justify the purchase of your forth 50mm lens and your third
>35mm.  Of course, you'll need something to carry this stuff in, but don't
>want to advertize that you're carrying expensive camera equipment, so 
>you'll
>end up spending $300 on a camera bag that has been carefully crafted and
>designed to look like it cost $25.  Of course, everyone else carrying 
>$7,500
>worth of Leica equipment will have the same bag, but that doesn't bother
>you.
>
>Then some poor soul will be desperate to make his house payments and you 
>buy
>his black paint M6 LHSA limited edition just to be a friend -- and because
>the deal was too good to pass up.  Black paint fever strikes, and you
>rapidly acquire an M6 Millenium, M2 black paint, and have your original M3
>repainted in black enamel.  Three weeks later you realize that your chrome
>90mm lens looks silly on a black painted M3, and you buy another M3 (in
>chrome) to have a matching set.
>
>Your interest in macro-photography is suddently awoken when someone shows
>you the pictures they took of the wife's petunias in the back yard.  You
>just know that your wife would love some shots of her petunias too, so you
>decide to get a small macro outfit, just the essentials.  Of course, the M
>system is notoriously difficult to use with macro stuff, but that doesn't
>stop you from acquiring an entire Visoflex IIa system, until you realize
>that what you really need is the R8 and 100mm f/2.8 APO-Macro-Elmarit-R 
>with
>the 60mm f/2.8 Macro-Elmarit-R just as a back-up.  For a while you have the
>idea of chasing insects with the 180mm f/2.8 APO-Elmarit-R, 2x APO extender
>and a Macro-Adaptor-R, but you realize that the whole thing is just too
>impossible to hand-hold.  Again, switching lenses becomes a pain (not to
>mention winding on the film), so you buy another R8 and two motordrives.
>
>Of course, with the R8, you now have the perfect platform for taking those
>great telephoto shots of shy animals in the treeline close to where you
>live, and they're such cute animals so you're practically guaranteed to win
>some major award, or make a killing in the stock photography market.  You
>use this to justify the purchase of a $3,000 280mm f/2.8 lens which you
>consider to be an increadibly good deal, because the guy selling it threw 
>in
>a $400 122mm front UV filter with the deal, but you'd never actually use 
>the
>UV filter, because now you've become obsessed with the image-degrading
>qualities it can have.
>
> > Will I become a Leica snob?
>
>Without a doubt.  In fact, already now you're trying to find faults with 
>the
>Bessa-R or the Contax G, and will in a few weeks time be able to construct
>half-hour long arguments as to why you need to spend as much on one Leica
>body as you could on acquiring an entire Pentax K camera system.
>
> > Should I go to school, become a dentist, and then retire before gettig
>one?
>
>No.  You will not be able to afford an education once you buy that first 
>M6.
>
>
>Welcome to the gang!
>
>;)
>
>M.
>
>- --
>Martin Howard                     |       Flawed beauty is much more
>Visiting Scholar, CSEL, OSU       |               interesting
>email: howard.390@osu.edu         |          than perfect beauty
>www: http://mvhoward.i.am/        +---------------------------------------
>

_________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.