Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/04/08

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Subject: RE: [Leica] full time photogs
From: "B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>
Date: Mon, 8 Apr 2002 18:32:26 -0400

Yup, Ted will probably retire without making the switch to
digital...although I'd be willing to be that within the next year he'll
start to play around with it...

But here's the reality, folks, sad as it may be....If you are shooting for
newspapers or magazines, there is no longer an image quality advantage in
using Leica gear - if there ever was. Today's digital equipment is producing
images that when printed in newspapers and magazines cannot, even by the
most dedicated Leicaholic, be distinguished from the best film/Leica images,
simply because the reproduction isn't good enough. As to print produced from
digital, certainly up to 8x10, at any normal viewing distance, digital
output is going to equal film. And there are those who will argue it will
equal it well beyond that.

Yes, Leica Ms have advantages in certain situations - of course they do NOT
have any kind of noise/quietness advantage over digital. But the small size
and unobtrusiveness is an advantage in certain intimate situations. And
certainly, in the mucky, humid, places where Tina shoots, an M has it all
over a digital.

But the gloomy night at the end of the tunnel is now in full view.

And I say that as someone who has NOT even started the transition to
digital...I'm still fully-wed to Tri-X, Ms and my F100s.

B. D.


- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
[mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of Ted Grant
Sent: Monday, April 08, 2002 5:24 PM
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: Re: [Leica] full time photogs


Tina Manley said wisely:
>>> I send the cameras in for cleaning if they quit working or if I notice
> rusty spots.  I am on the Leica professional list, but I get no special
> prices - just expedited returns.
>
> I can't afford not to carry Leicas.<<<<<<

Hi Tina,
I can't add anything to this, as it says it all! :-) And what I've been
doing for 40 years with a Leica.
ted











Ted Grant Photography Limited
www.islandnet.com/~tedgrant
- ----- Original Message -----
From: "" <images@InfoAve.Net>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Monday, April 08, 2002 1:25 PM
Subject: Re: [Leica] full time photogs


> At 12:49 PM 4/8/02 -0700, you wrote:
> >2.  That most working photographers must use less expensive
> >equipment because they are not paid well enough to amortize
> >anything as expensive as Leica.  This is meant for those
> >whose employer does not furnish their gear.
> >
> >    Larry Burrows told me his Leicas were sent to Hong Kong
> >for a complete stripdown and cleaning on a MONTHLY basis.
> >He was carrying five Leicas and two Nikons on the day I met
> >him.  I am also sure that because of his fame and
> >  "connections" he received his equipment for much lower
> >prices than you or I would have been offered.
> >
> >     One friend was carrying a FTn and 50~300 zoom when they
> >drove into an ambush.  He dove into a ditch full of water,
> >mud, algae and probably shit RATHER THAN GET SHOT.  I will
> >leave the shape of the camera and lens to your imagination.
>
> Well, my employer doesn't furnish my gear.  Or I guess I do, since I am
> self-employed.
>
> I use only Leicas - mostly M6's.  I use them because I can drop them in a
> river or in knee deep mud, wash them out, dry them and continue using
> them.  I can use them in the rainy season in Central America and not worry
> about a deluge of rain frying the electronics.  I can use them for weeks
at
> a time with no batteries.  I can use them in dark, small, smoky adobe
homes
> and the shutter is quiet enough that everyone forgets that I am taking
> photographs.  I can rewind them quietly when conversation covers the sound
> of the film slipping back through the camera.  I can take pictures by
> candlelight with the Noctilux.
>
>
> Tina
>
>
> Tina Manley, ASMP
> http://www.tinamanley.com
> images available from http://www.pdiphotos.com
>
>
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>


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Replies: Reply from Greg Locke <locke@straylight.ca> ([Leica] was full time photogs: NOW going digital)