Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/02/05
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hi Right on! one of the more prominent user of the Leica M and R system, Sebastio Salgado, also shot hundreds and hundreds of frames to be whittled down to hundreds for a book, and plus, many of them are very grainy ISO 3200 TMAX shots :) Without Leica, there would have been no photojournalism as we know it today, with the use of portable, "small" handheld cameras first made popular by the early Magnum pioneers... The quality of the lenses is icing on the cake. ---------- David Teo "Red Dawn" Boon Hwee david@5stonesphoto.com On 06-Feb-06, at AM 02:20, Tina Manley wrote: > > From a history of Leica: > > The 1950s and 1960s saw the period of Leica's greatest expansion. In > 1954 the Leica M3 was introduced, and was an instant hit with news > photographers. The M3 was a stable, easy to handle camera, and the > light, brilliant viewfinder was equipped with shining frames that > reflected inwards, one for each lens. The range finder integrated into > the viewfinder had a broad base and an unrivalled setting contrast. > Compared to normal techniques used in 1950s' cameras, the new Leica > technique was astounding. The M2 and M4 soon followed, where the > difference lay in the design of the viewfinder. It was not long before > the Leica had conquered photojournalism. Wherever you saw a news > photographer, the Leica M's dominance was obvious. This was also the > period of the rapid development of Leica lenses, and many famous > lenses - Summicron, Summilux, and Noctilux - were first produced. > > > From a history of photojournalism: > > "The growth of photojournalism was inextricably linked to 35mm > rangefinder cameras from Leica and Contax. Light, compact, unobtrusive > and rapid to use they remain the favourite tool of some leading > photojournalists. Limitations are a closest focusing distance of 2-3 > ft, and limited usability with longer focal lengths - with 135mm as a > maximum. They are at their best with fast wideangle lenses.. "