Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/02/24
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Those who think that Ewrin is totally objective are kidding themselves. As evidence, read his report on the M7. For example, he says in his most recent "...with the M7 you can fully concentrate on the subject and only select the focus plane. This is a very relaxed way of picture taking, still being in control of all important decisions and trusting the electronics where appropriate. The M7 should be close to Barnack's vision: spontaneous and care free photography...." You get the idea. I had the feeling when reading this that someone was trying to pull the wool over my eyes. This sounds like a Leica advertisement. Those who think that he is a "Leica conduit" or mouthpeice are probably wrong too. Just read his reports; they are based on some degree of objective testing. The "truth" probably lies somewhere in the murky middle. - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Marc James Small" <msmall@infi.net> To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us> Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2002 12:40 PM Subject: Re: [Leica] DR. BLACKTAPE WOULD LIKE TO RAISE AN EXTREMELY SERIOUS QUESTION REGARDING ERWIN PUTTS' "REVIEW OF THE NEW M7... At 01:04 PM 2/24/02 -0500, B. D. Colen wrote: >Are we really expected to continue to believe that Erwin and his reports are >what any neutral observer would call "independent" of Leica and truly >objective? We would suggest that we should judge his reports just as we >judge Leica's advertising materials, press releases, and the endorsements >from photographers to whom it gives free cameras. > BD You really should get out more. I'd suggest that you subscribe to, say, the Hasselblad Users' Group, where Henry Posner of B&H is a very active member. On the Rollei List, we used to have a lot of input from Bob Salomon at HP Marketing when they were still the US agents for Rollei, and both Marflex and Harry Fleenor still participate in that forum, as does Bob Shell. Kornelius Fleischer from Zeiss frequently posts to the Medium Format Digest. No one accuses any of these other guys of being mere company flacks, and it ill-suits you to suggest this of Erwin. Erwin is a careful and cautious observer of things optical, and his analyses and reviews are worthy of great merit. That he receives support from Leica (and Zeiss, on occasion) merely means that he has a chance to evaluate gear before the rest of us can see it. Now, if you are accusing him of actual bias, I would appreciate your firm data on this -- can you reveal to our enquiring minds a single example of a skewed test result or a single example of his swallowing his results in the interest of mere promotion? Long before you subscribed to the LUG, BD, I made the same foolish accusations about Erwin, to the point that he protested to Brian about my lack of politeness. In the end, I began to READ what he was saying, instead of simply engaging in a knee-jerk reaction, and began to understand the depth and breadth of his work, and then I ceased my juvenile rantings and laid down the mantle of Moral Probity which you, sadly, have now chosen to don. Give it a rest, BD. The quality of Erwin's work speaks for itself. Marc msmall@roanoke.infi.net FAX: +276/343-7315 Cha robh bąs fir gun ghrąs fir! - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html