Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/03/09

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Subject: [Leica] why users love it
From: mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner)
Date: Fri Mar 9 16:14:48 2007

On 3/9/07 6:22 PM, "Walt Johnson" <walt@waltjohnson.com> typed:

> Theyzuns  were themuns....thosuns who wanted me nailed to a cross for
> suggesting filters on Leica glass. Probably the same ones who sell
> equipment listing "slight cleaning marks". ;-)     Actually, I've gotten
> to the point I'd like to have a Mamiya 7. One camera, one lens and the
> heck with all the rest. Problem with that is my scanner only does 35mm.
> I'm not about to buy one capable of 6x6 or 6x7. I am really cheap.
> Genearlly buy all my equipment used but the lenses new.
> 
> Walt (who loves ya too)
> 
Medium format film can be done quite well with flatbeds which are not all
that much money. 5 6 hundred bucks maybe. Epson. 4000 dpi. And can be used
to scan all kinds of things. Like paper and a whole roll of film like for a
contact sheet kind of thing. And those scans doing a whole roll at at time
can be used for web work or emails. I get a big kick out of scanning old
black and white snapshots you feel like your working from an original
negative and they hadn't thrown the neg away and when you blow them up
letter size its like seeing them for the first time. Its like you never saw
them. And they're no longer faded and what not. The snapshots from the early
50s and before are often contact prints so the detail hidden in there is
really impressive. You get to see those little things you had next to you on
your dresser as a kid. Its like you've been sent back in time.
And when you run out of black and whites you can do the colors and often the
best approach is to pretend they were never shot in color. That awful stuff
from the 70s. You can fix the color that's nice. But not the haircuts. No.
But often nicer to just get rid of the color. So they blend in with all your
nice black and whites. You've printed on above average paper.
Its important your paper is above average.
And I'd say matt. From these companies who've been making paper for 400
years.
100 % rag.
They told you in school paper comes from trees they lied.
The best paper comes from rags. Stolen no doubt out of garbage cans.
But the polyester blends don't count. They want a high cotton count.

Mark Rabiner
8A/109s
New York, NY

markrabiner.com



Replies: Reply from jbm at jbm.org (Jeff Moore) ([Leica] why users love it)
In reply to: Message from walt at waltjohnson.com (Walt Johnson) ([Leica] why users love it)