Re: [Leica] Bessa T

[Guy Bennett <gbennett@lainet.com>]

>> As far as the Cosina editorial presence in the LHSA's Viewfinder every issue
>> for the past couple of years all written by Tom A, (and at the same time
>> always being editorially critical of Leica) one has to wonder if Tom A is a
>> paid consultant for Cosina. And I am a little shocked that the powers at
>> LHSA go along with this. If I find out that Tom A is in fact a Cosina paid
>> consultant I will be dropping my LHSA membership.
>>
>> Steve
>> Annapolis
>
>This is a joke, right? Or are we about to see similar statements about
>EP? Naw, it has to be a joke!
>
>B. D.


We *have* seen similar statements about E.P. made by certain participants
(actually a certain participant) in the current thread. So what's the
difference?

Being a venerable fence sitter, I'm not going to take sides in the latest
outbreak of Hatfield/McCoy-ism with respect to the latent
Leicaphilia/-phobia present here on the LUG. I'm a Leica user who is happy
to be able to have a 25mm lens for his IIIF, an affordable and excellent
35mf VF for the same camera, and who will undoubtedly be buying more Cosina
lenses in the future. That said, I'm certainly not going to abandon my M6
for a Bessa Anything - I'm too satisfied with the M to want to use anything
else! And when it comes to choosing a 35 for the M6, well, I'll stick with
the current 35 Summicron Asph and leave the Ultrons to someone else.

What intrigues me here is the dynamic of the current polemic: on the one
hand, we have those who feel Leica is tops, period. Anything other RF
camera doesn't measure up, and they take pleasure in deriding the
competition. On the other, we have those who feel that the M is an
overpriced camera put out by an inept company supported only by collectors.
Leica is to be belittled wherever possible, and the problems and
limitations of the M system are to be harped on at every occasion.

Though the opinions are diametrically opposed, the rhetoric is identical on
both sides: deride the current product, be it Leica or (in this case)
Cosina, question the motives of the company, question the motives of those
who support the company, and end with name-calling. It's so predictable as
to be formulaic.

For entertainment value and a sense of the perverse, I shall follow the
current thread as I have followed the preceeding ones regarding the 0
Series, Erwin's qualifications and affiliations with Leica, etc., etc. If I
miss a post here or there I won't worry about it - most likely, nothing new
will be said.

We now return to your regularly scheduled program. Carry on, boys.

Guy