Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/08/01

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Leica Quality versus Medium Format
From: "Mxsmanic" <mxsmanic@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2001 08:43:30 +0200
References: <FJEAJICBHEDNLMABPNCPGEODCCAA.george@rdcinteractive.com> <OE258Q9eqwZ2cFXvmBU000017ae@hotmail.com> <3B6853C6.64716B13@earthlink.net> <OE35ldBvxUO8o1iGBGI00005301@hotmail.com> <3B68E974.DDF15C11@hale-pohaku.com>

Dennis writes:

> disproportionate to what?
> n*k*n owners? c*n*n owners?

Both.  Leica attracts a lot of non-photographers, pseudo-photographers, real but
extremely eccentric photographers, collectors, status-conscious people with
money, and dilletantes with its longstanding mystique.  A lot of Leica owners
apparently just keep their cameras under glass.  Others will take a photo of
anything with the camera and then ooh and aah about the beautiful Leica glow or
whatever, oblivious to the fact that the photo is completely devoid of any
interest.  Others are real photographers, but are so deeply invested in the
Leica world that they cannot tolerate any suggestion that there might be other
ways to take serious photographs.  Still others collect Leica gear and will go
to any length to take a picture with a Leica, even when SLR or MF systems are
glaringly more appropriate for a specific application.  And so on.

In this respect, Leica is very much like Rolex, attracting people who are
concerned only with the object, not the use of the object.  Rolex owners
generally care only about the mechanical engineering of the watch, and the fact
that it is off by six seconds a day (compared to a $10 child's quartz watch that
can keep time to within 500 ms a day) does not bother them--and they won't
tolerate having this pointed out to them.  The Leica situation, though, is
complicated by the fact that you _can_ use a Leica to take great pictures;
unlike a Rolex, Leica can meet or beat any other camera around.  But it still
attracts a lot of jewelry collectors and other people with interests very
peripheral to actual photography.

At my local Leica dealer I was told that some people change Leica bodies almost
every week.  You don't see that too often with Nikon or Canon, and I find it
hard to believe that the people doing this are serious photographers.

Replies: Reply from Dennis Painter <dennis@hale-pohaku.com> (Re: [Leica] Leica Quality versus Medium Format)
In reply to: Message from "George Day" <george@rdcinteractive.com> (RE: [Leica] Leica Quality versus Medium Format)
Message from "Mxsmanic" <mxsmanic@hotmail.com> (Re: [Leica] Leica Quality versus Medium Format)
Message from "B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net> (Re: [Leica] Leica Quality versus Medium Format)
Message from "Mxsmanic" <mxsmanic@hotmail.com> (Re: [Leica] Leica Quality versus Medium Format)
Message from Dennis Painter <dennis@hale-pohaku.com> (Re: [Leica] Leica Quality versus Medium Format)