Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/08/02
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hi, I'm not sure. Did y'all see the documentary about Flea Markets on PBS last night? I thought it was a very nice program. But, if consider what some of those guys were paying for just plain old stuff than I gotta say the Leica thing may not be all that bad in comparison. Barney "B. D. Colen" wrote: > > Certainly, it is fun to turn the tables on Mxsmanic and ask him to > provide his sample size, etc. etc. But the sad truth is, I believe, that > what he wrote about the current Leica owner base is dead-on accurate. > Sad, but accurate. > > B. D. > > And, no, I can't supply sample size, working notes, region of the world, > etc. ;-) > > Dennis Painter wrote: > > > > Mxsmanic makes an unsubstantiated claim of disproportionate:: > > > > > 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. > > > > Show your work. How did you calculate the proportions? sample size, regions of the > > world, or is this just your personal anecdotal opinion?