Re: [Leica] Now that Leica glo' no mo ---

[Johnny Deadman <lists@johnbrownlow.com>]

I think Dante is completely right and Erwin is full of it.

Listen, I have boarded most of this season on a 156cm Burton BMC which 
is the lightest, snappiest snowboard I have ever ridden. However, it is 
too short for my weight which means I wasn't carving properly and it 
was sketching out on hard turns. So I went out and bought a 164cm BMC.

The first day I put it on, it was like I had never ridden a snowboard. 
I practically took the f***ing thing back. It felt like a big LOG stuck 
to my feet. I fell a hundred times, even coming off the chair lift. I 
could have written reams about how I wasn't getting any feedback from 
it, all the kind of stuff that Erwin wrote.

However I know enough about my own learning curve to stick with it in 
these circumstances, and that these kinds of feelings are actually 
God's way of telling you you have done something right. After all, if 
it felt the same why bother to change? So a couple of weekends later I 
*love* the 164. It rides on rails like a damned train. You get your 
balance right and it does all the turning for you. Amazing board.

Anyway, Erwin's spiel is just a fancy way of saying he prefers his 
Mom's cooking.

I am currently learning to use a Canon 1Ds which is a massive change 
from a Leica. I've also recently learned to use a 4x5 camera. All of 
this was difficult, but worth it. And all of it, including 
snowboarding, is a question of transferring technique from your 
conscious brain to your reptilian brain. Once you do that it's all 
intuitive, no matter which camera you're using.

JB

On Tuesday, March 4, 2003, at 04:55  PM, Richard F. Man wrote:

> So what do you y'all think of this editorial from Dante's site: 
> www.dantestella.com. Does any of you have experience similar to 
> Erwin's? I think it this is just shilling from Erwin, but then what do 
> I know? Of course he wrote something equally dramatic for the new MP 
> experience too. So... thoughts? As usual, I suspect it has been 
> discussed before, but would be interesting to hear the thoughts now 
> given the M7 and the new MP....
>
> http://www.dantestella.com/technical/rangefinder.html:
> Quote from another website, I am sure it is from Erwin Puts' site 
> somewhere, as I was mightily intrigued and confused when I ran into it 
> myself -- // richard
> ***
> — "When you close your eyes and pick up the Leica and the Hexar 
> several times, the difference in feeling and haptics emerges. When you 
> hold the Leica, your thumb slides behind the advance lever and your 
> finger lays on the shutter release button, which is sharp as a 
> trigger. This simple and intuitive act signifies to the brain a state 
> of alert attention and you fall into the mood of a hunter or an active 
> sportsperson anticipating the moves of the other players. When holding 
> the Hexar, both hands hold the body and wen your finger touches the 
> release button, there is no trigger effect. The finger just rests 
> there and you do not get any feedback from the body. So you switch 
> almost automatically into a more passive state of mind and allow the 
> camera to work for you. That is easy to do as the automatic functions 
> of the camera (exposure, film transport, motorwinder) are so well 
> executed that you start to rely on them and even transfer control to 
> them. In fact you are starting to become an operator of the camera, 
> adjusting the wheels and not the driver who forces the camera to do as 
> he wants it to act."
>
> And here's Dante's editorial remark:
> ***
> — Whoa, Nelly! The above-statement was written by a noted Leica expert 
> in relation to two cameras that take the same lenses and have exactly 
> the same type viewfinder and focusing. Personally, I would like to see 
> the EEGs of people using Leicas and Hexar RFs before I swallow a 
> statement like that. While the writer is normally very organized and 
> scientific in his methods, I can't help but conclude that this 
> statement is probably the clearest proof that Leica (Leica, not other 
> brands of similar equiment) is a religion. Isn't a camera supposed to 
> work for you?! Ifyou want to talk haptics and concentration, there is 
> nothing that breaks the concentration of a left-eyed shooter faster 
> than putting you right thumb in your right eye while winding an M3. 
> Talk about tactile. I'd rather take the shot and forget about the 
> "experience" of taking the picture.
>
> // richard <http://www.imagecraft.com> 
> <http://www.dragonsgate.net/mailman/listinfo>
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