Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/07/09

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Subject: Re: [Leica] M7 or not to M7, c'est la question - LONG
From: clifford wright <skidoophoto@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2002 06:01:48 -0700 (PDT)

 Makes sense, it does.
 And I think esp. important to keep in mind for
photographers with less experience. Using my M4-p has
done all the things you mentioned for my photography.
Yes, I love being lazy with my nikon on AE and yes I
crave a M7 but I know more about light from using my
M4-p and my brain.
Clif

- --- Alastair Firkin <firkin@ncable.net.au> wrote:
> G'day all,
> 
> yesterday I wrote a wonderful comment on the M7,
> which seems to have 
> gone missing in the ether: well you are not spared,
> so here we go 
> again, only now I'm so flu ridden, it may not make
> any sense at all 
> ;-)
> 
> Clearly the M7 is a wonderful camera. Doubtless it
> is expensive, and 
> perhaps, it will hold its value and deliver
> wonderful service over so 
> many years that it will more than pay back it owner.
> Perhaps the M7 
> was slow in coming into the world, but its here now,
> and provides an 
> alternative for those who want it, but beware!!!
> 
> When I came to Leicas, I had a CLE and M3. I'd
> bought the M3 because 
> it was born the same year I was, but I'd hardly used
> it --- what 
> could one do with a camera without a lightmeter? The
> CLE had 
> convinced me about the quality and versatility of
> the rangefinder 
> system. Then on my 40th, Helen got me an M6 with 35
> summilux, and the 
> back balance has never looked the same ;-)
> 
> I joined the LUG, and learnt all sorts of things.
> Automation was 
> clearly not everything. I had learnt from the
> meterless 
> Bronica/Hasselblad experience, that slowing down,
> thinking, & 
> metering carefully led to a definite improvement in
> my photography. 
> Of course I now had to learn how to handle street
> scenes etc, so I 
> delved into the comments made on HCB, and some
> personal advise from 
> Fred Ward. Soon I was pre-focusing, I was surveying
> the scene around 
> me more acutely, I was getting myself increasingly
> aware of the 
> changing light, the combination of shadows, and how
> it would affect 
> exposure. I learnt to judge light, and began to use
> and external 50mm 
> finder. I was going backwards, but my photography
> was going forwards.
> 
> Pre-focusing meant I was fast, pre-judging light
> meant that I was 
> having fewer and fewer exposure problems, and by
> using an external 
> finder, I was composing the scene WITHOUT centreing
> on the 
> rangefinder patch. The M6 meter was useful in lower
> light conditions 
> and especially with the Noctilux, but in daylight, I
> can usually hit 
> within one stop.
> 
> I'm sure the first time I wrote this it was more
> "intelligent", but 
> what I'm trying to say, is that it is ok for Ted to
> use automation -- 
> he knows how to use it. For me, automation had lead
> to laziness, and 
> there is a lot to be learnt by keeping out of
> automation. This is why 
> the R8 now suits me. It is designed to be used on
> Manual, in fact the 
> first stop on the dial is "m".
> 
> By all means, buy the M7, but remember the lessons
> the M3/6 can teach 
> you, or you will fall into lazy habits.
> 
> Cheers --- does this make sense ??????? Oh well
> --
> To unsubscribe, see
http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html


=====
"The eye is for looking, not for thinking." Marc Riboud

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