Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/03/03
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I really do not understand the contempt some people feel for ebay. It is a great tool for buying and selling stuff that would otherwise be virtually unattainable. I recently bought a Pentacon Six medium format camera and 3 lenses; the camera and the normal lens came from a guy in the Ukraine, the wide angle lens from a guy in the Czech Republic, and the long lens from a guy in Poland. I could have spent 6 months scouring all the used camera dealers in Zurich and would not have found these items, and certainly not for the price I paid. As for the idea that buying a piece of equipment (even as fine a piece as a Leica) should be a lifetime commitment, I cannot agree either. It is precisely because Leica equipment takes some getting used to that just borrowing a piece from a dealer for a day (assuming that you have a dealer who will lend you one) is not going to provide you with enough experience. I bought a 0.58 M6 in 2000, thinking that it would just the ticket for my 24mm lens (ignoring the framelines), but after several months I realized that it was not working for me--I had to squint around the viewfinder and ended up putting the external finder on the camera anyway. So I sold it (not on ebay, but still remotely). Likewise, I decided after 2 years of owning an M3 that lugging an external meter in my Domke bag was not something I wanted to do anymore, so I sold it and bought a Bessa R2 as my third body. When I wanted a 50mm lens, I first bought an old Summilux, then traded it for a new Summicron, added a Noctilux, before deciding that I only wanted one 50mm lens and selling the Summicron and the Noctilux in favor of a new Summilux. In each case I owned the lens in question for at least a year. I see nothing wrong with adjusting my equipment over time to my changing needs and preferences. It is after all the pictures that count, no? Nathan Mark Rabiner wrote: > I find the idea contemptuous. > I think people should buy a camera and take pictures with it. Die with > it. That's the full cycle of the thing. > > It's not a baseball card. > > Pass it on to your grandchildren. I think that's what a tool Like a > Leica M camera is all about. > It stays in your family for a few generations. > > I've got a nephew I've never met just signed up for photography courses > at Columbia University in New York City. > I'm leaving him quite a few zero's worth of cameras in my will. > The kids barely heard of me. For all I know they've kept me a secret. I > hope he gives the Leicas a fair shot before he sells them to buy more Nikons... > or a Chevy Bronco. > > Buy a camera, marry it. Get to know all it's nuances. > These people who trade systems every year - ASK TO SEE THEIR PRINTS! > Half the time they won't have any at all the other half it will be a > stupid short stack of un-edited 4x6 machine prints. > > The sad fact i feel that most people don't realize > is that once people buy a camera; there's nothing left to do but to take > pictures with it. > The game is over. It's a tool. You bought it you use it. > It's a shame when the thrill comes from the buying and selling and not > the using. > > This buying and selling; buying and selling is not photography. > > And as this list is called the Leica USER group. Not Leica BUYER AND > SELLER Group, it's not what we are all about. > > But if we run out of money we just SELL SOMETHING ON EBAY (almost as > much fun as buying) and that frees up more loot to then BUY SOMETHING ON > EBAY. So we can keep it for a month and a half. > > > We had "Guilt" in a tread heading even though it was mostly talking > about something else. > > The "Guilt" of buying an expensive camera like a Leica and especially > Leica because it's low tech approach would apparently not justify the expense. > > The me the "Guilt" comes from not using the camera. Months later having > few prints to show for it or slides. I see guilt in that. > > I cant see any "Guilt" coming from a camera one carries around every day > -- at any price. > > But i do see "Guilt" from complaining about it to give an excuse to > trade it in for a new toy a short time later. > > "I think the Canon lenses are better, I'm going Canon" > > Me I don't enjoy buying stuff. Makes me very nervous. I sweat blood when > ever i have to spend more than a grand on something. Pink stuff rolls > down my forehead. And I try to buy stuff as close to home as possible > and from people (camera stores) which already know me. ...a repeat > customer. That way if it DOES screw up I come back there and slap it > down on the counter. And expect another one which works on the spot. > > Don't suck us into auction threads folks! > Money money money. Greed, Avarice, dilettantism. > > We need to get back to owning what is ours. Taking care of it properly. > And see what it really can do for us. > > As the Ebay mentality takes over more and more our overall concept of > ownership completely fades. We never own anything. We are just playing > auction games with it. Have we enjoyed using it as much as we've enjoyed > buying and selling it? > But more importantly. Have we given the thing a fair shot? I think the > people who designed and built it, marketed it and sold it deserve at > least that. > > > Mark Rabiner > Portland, Oregon USA > http://www.rabinergroup.com > Email: mark@rabinergroup.com > Fax: 503-221-0308 > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html > - -- Nathan Wajsman Herrliberg (ZH), Switzerland e-mail: nathanw@bluewin.ch mobile: +41 78 732 1430 Photo-A-Week: http://www.wajsman.com/indexpaw2003.htm General photo site: http://www.wajsman.com/index.htm - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html