[Leica] digital transformation

[SonC at aol.com (SonC@aol.com)]

I know I made a little reply to this thread earlier, but Nathan has  put 
forth an orderly explanation of what seem to be my feelings, so mostly, this 
 is 
"what he said."  
 
I have no clients, though sometimes I have sold my work  editorially.  
Interesting that in three separate magazine articles, I mixed  digital and 
film.  I 
was not sold until I saw with my own eyes the  remarkable performance of 
Canon, and then Pentax  at ISO 800 and  higher.  My beloved Fuji Press 
cannot 
approach the richness of my Pentax's  image without serious Photoshop work.  
 
It is not the speed of the output that intrigues me so much; as a former  
stringer for UPI, I often had hard prints on the fax machine within minutes 
of  
shooting.  If souping, then printing is your job for a few years, the magic  
and pleasure fades, and then it becomes smelly, finger-staining  work. 
 
 

Regards,  
Sonny
http://www.sonc.com
Natchitoches, Louisiana
Oldest continuous  settlement in La Louisiane
?galit?, libert?, crawfish

 
 
 
In a message dated 4/30/2005 1:36:14 A.M. Central Daylight Time,  
nathan.wajsman@planet.nl writes:

I am  with Tina on this one. No nostalgia. If you look in the archives, 
you will  probably see posts from me from 2-3-4 years ago stating that 
hell would  freeze over before I switched to digital or something to that 
effect.  Well, as a Danish politician once said, "You have an opinion 
until you  change it". For me, seeing was believing. In June last year a 
friend from  Denmark came to visit me. He is a photographer whose work I 
have always  liked very much, and he brought his Canon 10D. I had an 
opportunity to use  it for 3 days, really experiment with it, get to know 
it, and see the  results on my computer and in print. Seeing is 
believing. The experience  convinced me that a DSLR can produce output on 
par with film, and in  October I bought my 20D. As ISO speeds of 100-400 
it produces results on  par with film of corresponding speed; at 800 and 
higher it produces  results far superior to film. This, and the 
undeniable convenience of  shooting some pictures and seeing the results 
on the computer the same  day, is what made me switch. Not clients (I am 
an amateur), not any love  of gadgets (I am quite happy with my mobile 
phone and PDA, both of which  are a couple of years old), not any desire 
to own the latest and greatest.  Simply quality and convenience. Those 
who do not believe me and make  denigrating comments about this new 
medium have either never really tried  to work with it or are simply so 
closed-minded that no amount of evidence  will convince them. That's fine 
with me. To which her own, live and let  live etc.

I certainly do not miss film. I do miss shooting with a Leica  M6, 
because it is still in my view the finest piece of photo equipment  ever 
made. Hopefully one day a digital version of it will exist at a price  I 
can afford. If not, then I will just stick with the Canons. What is most  
important in the end is the images.

One other comment: despite all  kinds of technical explanations to the 
contrary, most of which go over my  head, it is clear to me that putting 
superior optics (such as a Leica R  lens) on a digital body results in 
superior images, just as it does with  film. It is interesting to see 
that on the Fred Miranda Canon forum there  is right now quite a lot of 
discussion about Leica R and Zeiss lenses,  adapters to use those lenses 
on Canon EOS bodies and related subjects.  These are people who have no 
emotional attachment to Leica, but I guess  many of them have discovered 
the joy of Leica glass. Perhaps this is a  hint about one possible future 
of the company.

Nathan

Tina  Manley wrote:

> At 10:35 PM 4/27/2005, you wrote:
>  
>> So I guess what I am really wondering is, how many of us on the  list are
>> somewhat nostalgic for film, or have genuinely embraced  the digital
>> revolution?
>>
>> Don
>  
> 
> No nostalgia here.  I'm looking at the photos, not the  medium.  I do 
> miss my M's and would love to have digital  M.  I'm enjoying the instant 
> gratification of digital and  learning more about my Canons every day.
> 
> Tina
>  
> 
> Tina Manley, ASMP
> www.tinamanley.com
>