Re: [Leica] Bayonet vs. screw

[Andrew Moore <dmm@bronze.lcs.mit.edu>]

Finally, some common sense on the LUG.  Once in a while it surfaces...!

>
> >
> > Not sure about the speed advantage of bayonet lenses in a news photog
> > situation; it just doesn't seem like that much of a savings.
> >
> > --Andrew
> > NO ARCHIVE
>
> Andrew - There the speed advantage is quite genuine - not just news, but
> any situation where events are moving around you and you need a
> different lens. HOWEVER - First, for someone who wants the new Bessa as
> a second or third body, there's the perfectly reasonable solution of
> basically dedicating it to a given lens - say a Noctilux, or Nocton 50,
> or a 75 1.4...or even a wide with a finder. Second, there's the idea of
> having the Bessa as an inexpensive backup body.
>
> I have to say I am bemused, saddened, nay, maybe appalled, by much of
> the negative garbage that has been posted here about this new camera
> over the past day or so: it really goes a long way toward confirming
> what some from time to time have said is serious blind Red Dot worship
> on the LUG.
>
> No, this new camera isn't built or sold by Leica - and of course we've
> yet to see and hold it to know how well it is built. But assuming it's
> build as well as the Bessa R...It seems to me that, as described, this
> is a modern G Leica. Okay, it may only last 10 years - 10 years of
> having a slightly nosier shutter with a top speed of 1/2000th, a flash
> sync of a 125th, a built in meter, modern film loading and advance, and
> a price tag of under $500? So what if it only lasts 10 years at that
> price, with those features? As to the having to use finders - okay, it
> has the same draw back there as the LTMs - which, I know had the 50
> finder ... but as someone noted, it's pretty easy to use the rangefinder
> and gestimate for the 50 - and as someone else has noted, there are any
> number of multiple focal length finders around.
>
> Is this a Leica M? Of course not. Is it built as solidly as a G? I
> assume not. But I would wager that if this camera was stamped Leica,
> many of the same people who are instantly knocking it would be
> salivating, heralding the arrival of the "entry level Leica," which will
> revive Leica's long term prospects, revive interest in and use of
> rangefinders, give modern options to those who can only afford older LTM
> lenses or Cosina lenses, etc. etc. etc.
>
> All of this is, of course, just my none to HO, but, damn, folks, read
> some of what you write, substitute the name Leica for Bessa, and think
> about what you'd write then.
>
> With all due respect to those concerned...
>
> B. D.
>