Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/05/03

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

Subject: Re: Some Perspective...was .Re: [Leica] M6 viewfinder upgrade
From: "Gary Williams" <nasmformyzombie@mindspring.com>
Date: Sat, 3 May 2003 13:18:11 -0400
References: <000801c31182$3fa9f730$0316fea9@ccasony01>

Sent: Saturday, May 03, 2003 10:42 AM
Subject: RE: Some Perspective...was .Re: [Leica] M6 viewfinder upgrade


> Good for you, Gary, I'm glad you're content. And if you ran the list, I
> guess I might consider your advice and unsubscribe. But since you
> don't...

Leica is not perfect, there is no single perfect photographic solution for
every situation.  For my needs it's the best overall solution I've found.  I
also have an R reflex for telephoto and a few Contax SLR pieces for
situations where I need a PC lens (the PC Distagon is magnificent) or want
to use the 85mm Planar (a personal fave) for indoor portraits.  It's just
that the tenor of your posts is always so negative.  So negative that at a
certain point folks will tune you out.  For me, it's not a question of being
content, it's about perspective.

> I've been shooting since the early 60's - not that I know what you're
> comment about how long you've been shooting had to do with anything ;-)
> - I have shot with M2s, M3s, M4ps and M4-2s, and now M6s and M6TTls-  I
> too used a Contax G1 for a while and though it has terrific glass,
> didn't like the fact that it is basically a P&S with interchangeable
> lenses.

We completely agree about the Contax G system.  A P&S with interchangeable
lenses.  A lousy P&S at that.  When I want to use a P&S I grab my Yashica
T4/T5.  As for Leica, maybe you've been with the same woman too long and you
no longer appreciate her finer qualities.  ;)

>I now depend upon my M6s and M6TTLs to earn part of my living.
> They are my TOOLS. I have NO emotional investment in them or in Leica as
> a company. I think the glass is terrific, and I like using rangefinders.
> However - I find that the flare problem occasionally costs me images.

If you are using the equipment to make a living, then your shooting
situations are perhaps more planned in advance than us guys just having fun.
If you know you are going to be in a situation where flare can be a problem,
use an M3.  (Or buy some scotch tape for your M6) as some others suggest.  I
bought an M7 (over an M6TTL) for its aperture priority mode and an M2 (over
the M3) for its 35mm frame line and for shooting more deliberate and more
stealth stuff.  Among other things, I plan on using the M2 with a 40mm
Summicron CL as a street shooter.  I don't even know if the 40 CL will bring
up the 50 or the 35mm frame lines.  I don't care.  I will use it when
framing the shot is not as important as getting the shot.  I guess I could
fret about the 40mm on an M2, but the alternative is (1) stay at home and
eat (2) use a G2  (3) be like BD and bitch about it.  Instead I choose (4)
embrace and enjoy the experience.

> And that is GD inexcusable in a $2000-just-for-the-body camera. It is
> particularly inexcusable to have Leica turn around and finally, after
> what, 20 years, find a fix for the problem that they created - as the
> problem doesn't exist in the M2s and M3s, and charge as much to fix it
> as one might pay for a user M2 or M3 - or for that matter an M4-2 or
> M4p.
> Does that make me a "malcontent?" No, it makes me a pissed off consumer.

Again, if Leica pisses you off so badly, and you have no emotional
attachment to the system, look around.  The new Hassy Xpan II looks
interesting.  And there's still that tricked up electronic stuff from
Contax, the G2 is supposed to be a big improvement over the G1.

Gary



> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> [mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us] On Behalf Of Gary
> Williams
> Sent: Saturday, May 03, 2003 1:27 AM
> To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> Subject: Some Perspective...was .Re: [Leica] M6 viewfinder upgrade
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <DennisKT5D@aol.com>
> To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
> Sent: Friday, May 02, 2003 11:29 PM
> Subject: Re: [Leica] M6 viewfinder upgrade
>
>
> >   B. D. is absolutely right. Ignore an obvious problem, limit the
> > fixable cameras, and CHARGE you for the fix to boot. One more reason
> > (among
> several)
> > not to buy Leica.
>
> B.D., Dennis and other malcontents
>
> If you guys don't like Leica you can unsubscribe from the list and save
> the rest of us from your whining.  I for one do not seek perfection or
> nirvana or whatever it is that you don't seem to be able to get from
> owning and using the gear and belonging to the list.  Intelligent
> dialogue and disagreement are one thing, but my index finger gets stiff
> sometimes from deleting your negative and insipid emails.
>
> I have been shooting since the late 1970's, mostly Contax SLR, and after
> a brief and frustrating flirtation last year with a Contax G2 (now
> that's a piece of tricked up electronic nonsense to complain about, you
> call that thing a rangefinder, what a waste of wonderful Zeiss glass) I
> am delighted with my M7, M2 and handful of Leica lenses, 21mm CV, 24mm
> ASPH, 35mm ASPH,
> 90mm Elmarit.   I have the highly portable, unobtrusive, intelligent,
> low
> light shooting friendly system I have been looking for since I started
> in this game back in the 1970's.  Yea, Leica costs an arm and a leg,
> which created a real obstacle to ownership for me until I reached my
> 40's. On the cost of ownership perhaps we all have a complaint. But if
> you spent a little more time examining your motives and your desires,
> and a little less time complaining maybe you could figure out where it
> is that you really want to be with this stuff.  For most of us on the
> list it's a hobby or passion to pursue and to enjoy and not a vocation
> to constantly fret about.
>
> Gary
>
>
> --
> To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html
>
> --
> To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html

- --
To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html

Replies: Reply from "John Straus" <Mail@SlideOne.com> (Re: Some Perspective...was .Re: [Leica] M6 viewfinder upgrade)
In reply to: Message from "bdcolen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net> (RE: Some Perspective...was .Re: [Leica] M6 viewfinder upgrade)