[Leica] more questions

[dorysrus at mindspring.com (Don Dory)]

I frequently recommend Leica's to people.  The trick is to know what
that individual wants out of the camera.

The reasons my latest suggestee bought one are:
Film is pretty cheap, negatives last a really long time with little or
no special treatment in the modern first world home, quality is still
better at the margins, no battery hassles if you haven't used your
camera in a while, relatively small and quiet even with a 35, 50, 90
outfit, joy of using a really well designed machine, no time to screw
with digital files (three children, busy work life, horses to share with
the children).

I will repeat some statements I keep making every year or so.  For the
average family shooting twenty or fewer rolls of film a year, why would
you ever switch to digital?  The big chains sell film for $1.20 a roll
in multipacks 24 exposure, the major chains will process your film in a
Frontier lab for $3.99 to $6.99 a roll depending on your timetable, at
the $6.99 price point they will buy back prints.  You end up with images
you can give your mother and she can put them in a frame or show them to
her friends.

Film does a much better job at delivering an image when you are ten feet
beyond your flashes range, does a much better job at a 300% crop to get
to the subject of the image assuming a normal 4-5mp consumer camera.
With decent prints in your hand you have a long lasting memory that your
children can find in your attic and actually do something with as
opposed to a CD or even a metal box with Seagate 120 gigabyte on a faded
label.

None of the above makes any sense to a working pro or to many of our
family here for whom images are an extremely important part of their
life.  But we are the crazy ones.  We spend the price of a used car on a
lens and body.  Most people are truly happy with the pictures from the
$3.99 disposable bought at the drugstore.

0.02

Don
dorysrus@mindspring.com

-----Original Message-----
From: lug-bounces+dorysrus=mindspring.com@leica-users.org
[mailto:lug-bounces+dorysrus=mindspring.com@leica-users.org] On Behalf
Of Scott McLoughlin
Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2004 7:19 PM
To: Leica Users Group
Subject: Re: [Leica] more questions

I'd recommend Leica if:

(1) they could afford it

(2) they had absolutely no issues with the cost
(or DIY labor) of film processing and printing

(3) they clearly cared about quality, wanted
to make enlargements, etc.

(4) anticipated doing the kind of shooting where
a RF and bright line VF made sense.

(5) wanted an exchangable lens camera in a
relatively small package (fits in purse or brief
case, for example)

(6) wanted manual focus and exposure control
(vs. a G2 based system, for example).

(7) wanted to "buy into" a system they could live
with for a long, long time, ala, Leica's conservative
design philosophy.

Otherwise, they should get an SLR, DSLR, Contax
G2 or Digital P&S :-)

Scott

Emanuel Lowi wrote:

>Thanks y'all for the responses. They've helped clarify
>the incredible digital phenomenon I'm witnessing here
>on the LUG.
>
>Here's more questions.
>
>Over the years, I've introduced many people to Leica.
>Without exception, the people who bought M cameras on
>my advice have made those cameras a big part of their
>photographic lives.
>
>Now, in 2004-2005, while the MP and M7 (best Leica M
>cameras ever, IMHO) and all those great new lenses are
>for sale:
>
>Would you recommend a new Leica M to someone today? Or
>not? What reasons would you give? 
>
>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
>  
>

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