Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/11/04

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Subject: [Leica] re: leica made me a better photographer because it's a better camera....
From: "kyle cassidy" <kcassidy@asc.upenn.edu>
Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2001 13:15:44 -0800

>I swapped this [snip[ for a Nikon F with the old 2/50 lens.
>I kept using the same developers, processes, you name it.
>And the next day - all of a sudden - I was a better
>photographer! Just because THE CAMERA PERFORMED!
>The next step for me was Leica M3 - complete with Summarit
>1.5/50 and Summaron 3.5/35. AND AGAIN IT WAS A STEP
>UPWARDS! Just don't tell me my professional improvements
>simply coincided with the moments I switched to a different
>camera maker. I really mean it - it is easier to be a good
>photographer with a Leica, but it

i'm really skeptical to think of someone at the stage in their career
where simply switching cameras, which for all intents and purposes
are very similar (no light meter, AE modes, no real difference in
lens capability, shutter speeds, apetures, etc.) will radically
change their photographs for the better. from a technical standpoint,
it's very difficult to  quantify the "performance" differences between
a nikon F and a  Leica M3, unless you're gauging performance by
the number of cameras you can stick in a sandwitch bag.

i'm also terribly skeptical that it's "easier to be a good photographer
with a Leica".  i think it's terribly difficult to be a photographer at
_all_
with a Leica -- hand it to the average Man on the Street and you'll
get photos that look like Rudi Guliani's. The Leica M is a very difficult
camera to use. My mom does great with a Canon Rebel and I'm sure
she'd do equally great with a nikon N80 but a Leica would not help
her....

And as for Leica making people better photographers than Nikons,
has anybody taken a look over at the Nikon mailing list homepage lately?
I hate to say it, but I don't think we've been producing work like this:

  http://www.nikonlist.com/trees/1.htm

Which brings up a challenge: The nikon mailing list has a photo contest
every month, would anybody be interested in challenging them? the
LUG vs the NUG every month? I'm game if anybody else is. It could
serve to improve our game.

just my .02, take it for what it's worth.....

kc

p.s.:

>But - please - don't tell me you can't tell the difference between properly
>developed Leica negs/pictures - and those taken by a different maker
>camera/lens. Because I'm no magician or superman - and I can.

mike johnson proposed another challenge a few years back, he was going to
make up a bunch of prints and send them around to people and have them
vote: nikon, leica, pentax, etc. i remember he got a raft of fertilizer for
trying
and think he gave up, but it's a noble idea and one i'd like to see tried. i
can
tell my leica 35mm from my cosina  35mm lenses, but only because the leica
lens has seperation haze..... anybody want to put that together? i'd really
be
interested in seeing the results, only because i can't tell in my own
photos,
& i'm just wondering if i should cut back on smoking crack.




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Replies: Reply from "Don Dory" <dorysrus@mindspring.com> (Re: [Leica] re: leica made me a better photographer because it's a better camera....)