Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/06/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Okay, forgive my putting the masses in your mouth.. ;-) As to Leicas getting good cameras into the hands of "the people," I'd suggest that Leicas getting good cameras into some of the hands of some of the upper middle class and upper class is more like it. The Leica has never been a volkskamera.... ;-) Leica brought good cameras into the hands of the upper middle class and wealthy, how's that? Yes, disposables made cameras "throw away," but that doesn't mean that the images produced are considered "throw away" by those who make them. Actually, the disposable camera is very close in concept to the original Kodak which one sent to Kodak to have the film processed and replaced. My point about disposables is that I think they put photography into the hands of many people who didn't previously own cameras or take photos. Now, as to the proliferation of writing tools improving writing...I think just the opposite may be true. While Email is probably causing more people to communicate in writing, the quality of writing today has markedly deteriorated over that of a few decades ago, and appears to be going nowhere but downhill. My point about digital photography perhaps improving photography has to do with the fact that one can shoot and shoot, without worrying about the cost of film or processing. And, as I said, if one has an eye, practice does make better if not perfect. I know that I, for one, am shooting much more for myself using digital than I did with film, simply because I can afford to. As to the 2,000 -3,000 years, I think that's pushing things - it didn't take 2,000-3,000 years to see what impact replacing glass plates with cut film had - and that's the kind of change I think we're going through now. B. D. -----Original Message----- From: lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org [mailto:lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of Emanuel Lowi Sent: Monday, June 21, 2004 8:26 PM To: lug@leica-users.org Subject: [Leica] RE: While it is happening (B. D. Colen) B.D., chaver, you've got to read what I write more carefully. I never said that Leica was the camera that "brought photography to the masses." I'd never refer to people as "the masses." I certainly am aware of Eastman and his Kodak. I wrote that "Leica in 1925 played a key role in getting good cameras into the hands of the people." I leave it to others to defend the proposition that Kodak's cameras by 1925 were in any way good the way the Leica I(A) most certainly was. As for the disposable cameras (another Kodak-type thing, I believe), they made cameras throw-away, not photography. Most people only started throwing away their photos right after creation with the advent of digital. As for your other point about digital photography possibly leading to more better photos compared to the crap that's been produced on film, yeh, that's exactly what I said. Just like writing -- once the near-sacred preserve of classes of court scribes - has been proliferated & maybe improved by the increasing *mass* of ink-stained wretches with cheap and ever-sharpening tools. A decade away from knowing what digital really means? Given that history has this funny way of repeating in its very tedious & predictable way? I say look back 2000-3000 years and see the future in the looking glass. Emanuel Lowi Montreal ______________________________________________________________________ Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca _______________________________________________ Leica Users Group. See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information