[Leica] An R series question R8 - pretty ?

[s.jessurun95 at chello.nl (animal)]

really a XJ over a mark 3?

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Douglas M. Sharp" <DouglasMSharp@netscape.net>
To: "Leica Users Group" <lug@leica-users.org>
Sent: Saturday, June 19, 2004 2:41 PM
Subject: Re: [Leica] An R series question R8 - pretty ?


> Hi Frank,
> I can't disagree with your viewpoint either but couldn't help thinking
> of something I read
> a long while back . " A camel is a horse designed by a commitee" (which
> probably has nothing to do with
> this thread at all)
>
> Putting a 135/2.8 Tele-elmarit (with the specs) on the front of an M6
> Titanium makes for the ugliest Leica set
> I can think of, but the performance is quite exceptional.
>
> My great heroes of the past, Brunel, various Stephensons,
> Trevithick,Abraham Darby,Barnes Wallis , were all
> engineers, visionaries and to a certain extent, artists working with the
> new media of cast iron, steel, copper and brass.
> They all had the touch of breathing life into inanimate objects,
> something which has very nearly got lost in the past 50 years.
> Take a look at a steam engine - stripped  down to the very basics an
> ugly machine - add a bit of fluting here, a doric column there,
> a little more polished brass and copper, a touch of colour and you get a
> living entity, no wonder the old engineers and mechanics
> were proud of their machines.
>
> I don't have to, and unless there is no real alternative,still will not
> accept personally perceived ugliness as a product attribute, regardless
> of the desirability of the products' function(s). We all have to make
> compromises at one time or another, but I'm not YET ready to
> do it in the direction of a Leica R9. If I was to find that this camera
> body would increase my "success-rate" or "quality" of my shots
> to an enormous extent I might just, if my income was dependent upon this
> factor, consider buying one the basis of economics.
> As it is, for the present  I'll stick to what I've got and what it does
> - my eyes still work, I've got some reasonable lenses, and the camera
> bodies I use
> do what I want them to. Above all I'm still mobile enough to get to some
> nice places or events to cater for the all important "being there" factor.
> bfn
> Douglas
>
>
>
> FRANK DERNIE schrieb:
>
> >Hi Douglas,
> >as an engineer I make a clear distinction between
> >design - which I see as fitness for purpose and
> >functionality, that normally done by the engineers.
> >And styling - the aesthetics, sometimes by engineers,
> >sometimes by "designers" and sometimes the management.
> >In a camera the functionality is far more important
> >IMO than the looks. Having the controls fall under my
> >fingers and that viewfinder make up for the hideous
> >(IMO) styling for me. I find the M5 ugly but it is IME
> >the best M camera.
> >I feel the same about most things. A beautifully
> >styled car which is overweight and/or handles badly is
> >of absolutely no interest to me, though I would prefer
> >it to look nice, mind you there are almost no cars on
> >the market today which appeal to me.
> >cheers
> >Frank
> >_______________________________________________
> >Leica Users Group.
> >See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> >
> >
> >
>
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