[Leica] Re: another 2 weeks in m3 hell

[Jeff Moore <jbm@oven.com>]

C'mon, Kyle, the last guy we'd expect to be a whiner is you.  The M3
is a magnificent platform for a 50mm lens;  why not take this
opportunity to roll in the dust with that focal length for awhile?  If
you've been living with much shorter lenses, it'll seem like quite the
telephoto, but you may come to dig its ability to let you select the
important elements of a scene without getting inside people's
fight-or-flight personal-space sphere, but also without the sterile
space-compressing sense of snipery distance you can get with lenses much
longer than 50mm.

2001-07-03-09:32:14 Kyle Cassidy:
> crazy thing about that m3 light meter -- it gives you the perfect exposure
> if someone's taking a picture OF YOU. so what i need to do is only
> photograph other people who have identical cameras -- then i can say "hey
> bob, what's your leica MR meter say?" "well, kyle, it says f4 at 1/250
> second" "okay bob, thanks" CLICK!

So ditch the MR, and just pull an incident meter out of your pocket
every now and then.  If you're working outside, and you and your
subjects don't keep ducking under and out from under trees, and the
clouds aren't skidding madly across the sky -- the light will stay
pretty consistent for long periods of time.  Take a peek at the
incident meter (which is wond'rously unconcerned with the reflectivity
of your subjects' clothes or skin or surroundings), set your dials and
knobs, and then forget about exposure awhile and just take pictures.

You'll come unstuck.