[Leica] Re: Questions and Answers

[amr3 at alpha1.csd.uwm.edu (Alan Magayne-Roshak)]

>Date: Wed, 11 Aug 2004 12:46:16 -0400 (EDT)
>From: Emanuel Lowi <lowiemanuel@yahoo.ca>
>
>I have a few questions for the many people in this
>group who have adopted the digital technology in
>substantial ways during the past year, but who were
>previously mostly Leica M users.
>
>1) How does the act of photographing with your digital
>equipment compare with your prior experience of the
>act of photography with your Leica M? By this, I mean
>the "groove" you get into when shooting; your ability
>to get inside the moment while still recording it;
>your ability to detect a picture instinctively and
>then react to get it; your ability to work without
>thinking about your equipment while events are
>unfolding; your enjoyment of taking pictures.
.................................................................
At work I'm 95% digital,(using Canon EOS-1D and 1Ds cameras) and I can take
color pictures under marginal conditions better than before, but I don't
like the huge size and weight of the equipment, or having to fight the
camera when it won't do what I want, but what it THINKS I want.

Many times the camera won't fire because it hasn't focused yet, or else I
lose time moving the focus point to the subject to get the composition I
like. Or because I haven't pressed a button that I thought I did to change
one type of setting, I'll find to my dismay that some other setting has
moved.  It seems like more of  barrier between me and the scene. I like
smaller, simpler cameras for myself.  I find there is a time lag that vexes
me even with these high-end bodies; nothing like the quick response of the
M's.  I get more blinks and bad mouth positions with digital.

I enjoy the entire experince of using an M; I put up with digital to get a
result.  The other thing with film is that I HAVE to see in B&W when I'm
shooting.  I think this is better than converting later.  I'm afraid doing
so much digital on my job has stunted my B&W perception.
>......................................................
>2) How satisfied are you with the final results you
>get with your digital gear, compared to what you got
>with your Leica M. This is a big one, so consider the
>actual technical quality of the pics vs. what you may
>have been getting with, say, your various choices of
>colour slide film: colour quality and tonality,
>sharpness, the WOW factor.
...................................................................
The results are fine for my clients at work; it's what they want.  I still
get excited by projecting my Kodachrome slides and enlarging my
Panantomic-X and Tech Pan, or even Tri-X negatives.  People always told me
they couldn't believe the quality of the 16x20's I made from Tri-X.  When I
magnify the digital image on the monitor, the pixel pattern does not
satisfy me.  Even if you can't see it on say, an 8x10, knowing that Tech
Pan has the the detail waiting for the future is comforting.
>.........................................................
>3) Do the final results you get come to you with less
>or more effort than what you had to go through before:
>buying and carrying and loading and rewinding film,
>dropping it off at a lab and then picking up your
>slides a couple of hours later, vs. the battery
>management issues and time spent Photoshopping at the
>computer.
..........................................................
More effort for digital: I hurt my neck and arm last year until I found out
the best way to handle the bulk of the digital bodies, and I was getting
strain from working at the computer.  With film, my cameras are smaller and
the processing movements aren't so stressful.  I don't like sitting at
computers.  When I go home, I'm away from them.  In my case, picking up the
film comes days, not hours later, since for myself I shoot 90% Kodachrome
for color, but in a way I experince the fun of capturing an image twice -
once when I trip the shutter, and again when the film is developed.
>...........................................
>4) How do you feel, after being M users, now being
>electronic SLR users?
........................................................................
I'm still an M user. I carry an M3 or M2 with me everywhere.  Right now I'm
halfway through a roll of Tri-X in one and Kodachrome in the other.  My
only personal digital is an ELPH S200, but I use it less and less; the time
lag is just too frustratingly long, especially since I'm used to a Leica's
instant response.

I got my M3 30 years ago (used) and it's still my favorite camera; one I
could never give up using.
>...................................................................
>5) Is it really worth it? What does your
>heart-of-hearts tell you?
...............................................................
I use digital primarily for my job.  For my psyche, it's a Leica RF and film.
Alan

Alan Magayne-Roshak
Senior Photographer
Visual Imaging
Univ. of Wis.- Milwaukee
Information & Media Technologies
amr3@uwm.edu
(414) 229-4282/6525