[Leica] Tactical to Practical

[doubs43 at cox.net (Walker Smith)]

>
>
>The History Channel's show Tactical to Practical last night featured
>military photojournalists and some of their cameras through the years. A
>nice part of the story was spent on the Leica camera being introduced in the
>military.
>
A good friend of mine was a Green Beret Lt. assigned to Panama in the 
mid-1960's. One of his duties was to supervise a group of Army 
photographers, each equiped with a Leica M and battery of lens. Their 
task was to take pictures during military exercises in the field. He 
once told me that they were so poorly trained on the use of the Leicas 
that he took them away and gave them a camera that was essentially point 
& click. There were one or two notable exceptions among those he 
supervised but only a couple. He claimed it was a necessary step because 
they weren't getting the pictures with the Leicas. They supposedly did 
much beter with the simple cameras because they could concentrate on 
taking the pictures. His story, not mine.

Walker