Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2008/02/28
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I think in many ways the growth of features on the digital cameras is similar to what is happening to the field of photography in general. It was not that long ago professional cameras had no auto features on them, then the F3 had Aperture priority...but few used it. Leica was much slower on the path with the M7 being the first M to have AE and it came out when...in the 90's? When all the other wunderbricks had A,P,S, a fax machine and everything else built in. That was bad enough...but with digital now it is how many megapixels, and all the other stuff to "make it easy to make great photos". In reality all it has done is made it easy for us to get lazy and sloppy....I'd hazard a guess that most on this list still are not too sloppy simply because many of us still shoot some film for fun at least sometimes in our M's. We photographers have gone from being craftsmen to being tradesmen who provide nothing more than a computer file...that is how many end users now look at us...If I hear "I don't need it lit well I just need _*It good enough and I'll fix it in photoshop*_ one more time I am going to loose it. Unfortunately that is how so many now look at photography...Uncle Joe has a new EOS 40D/Nikon D300 and he can do the job just fine...... Leica with their high priced cameras always catered pretty much exclusively to pro's and those who wanted the best. They seldom went after the entry market, the CL was maybe their only foray into this area...the Panasonic knock offs are a second attempt...but I do not understand why people would pay a premium for them...it is not like you can stick a Noctilux on them. I'd love to see some lower priced M style of camera to compliment the M8. Canon and Nikon still sell their $4,000+ cameras just fine in addition to their cheaper entry models. I do not think Leica will ever be a "big" player again, but they could be more influential in the market than they have been...the success of the M8 even with all its warts at the start showed that. The times are a changing and it is best to change with them or get left behind. -- Harrison McClary Harrison McClary Photography harrison@mcclary.net http://www.mcclary.net ImageStockSouth - Stock Photography http://www.imagestocksouth.com Tobacco Road: Personal Blog: http://www.mcclary.net/blog