[Leica] Violins, lenses and cameras

[jplaurel at gmail.com (Jim Laurel)]

Good post, Peter. The same applies to hi-fi. In some discussion groups, 
people who are concerned about every step of their audio reproduction chain 
are derided as not having a clue about science and electronics. Sometimes, 
those who purchase high definition audio content (above ?redbook? 16 bit / 
44.1 kHz) are attacked and told they should study the Nyquist Theorem to 
learn the truth. Some say nothing matters but the performance itself.

But as with photography, it all matters. The artist?s performance, the 
quality of the recording, the digital-analog converter, the preamplifier, 
the amplifier and the speakers.


On May 16, 2014, at 3:27 PM, Peter Klein <pklein at threshinc.com> wrote:

> A number of my friends are symphony musicians.  Today, one of them posted 
> on Facebook that she had found a great online deal on a set of high-end 
> violin strings, and wondered if they were OK.  This led to a discussion of 
> the fine points of shelf life, variants of the brand, and whether a 
> platinum-coated E-string is better than a plain tin one.
> 
> And I wished that the "your camera (or lens) doesn't matter" crowd were 
> listening in.  Yes, musicians argue over instruments, strings, reeds and 
> mouthpieces, just as artists *do* argue over paintbrushes, and 
> photographers argue about cameras and lenses.  Does anyone seriously 
> believe that  a cheap school-orchestra fiddle should sound as good as a 
> Stradivarius or Guarneri violin?  Yes, the best players might be able to 
> make the bad fiddle sound reasonably good, but no way would it sound as 
> good as the Strad.
> 
> So why do some of us constantly down people who prefer Lens A over Lens B, 
> or Camera 1 over Camera 2?   The lens "resonates" the light, emphasizing 
> some aspects while diminishing others, just as the instrument resonates 
> the sound.  The camera's ergonomics and design are optimum for one type of 
> picture over another.  And a camera that you have to fight to get the shot 
> is just as hampering as the violin with a bad "wolf" tone in an exposed 
> passage.
> 
> Yes, of course musicians can get cultlike about this brand over that, just 
> as photographers do about cameras and lenses.  Yes, a good photographer my 
> be able to take a decent picture with any camera or lens, just as the 
> musician may be able to turn in a decent performance with any instrument.  
> But if my friend is going to play a big solo, she wants the best violin 
> and strings she can afford. If you handed her a cheap school fiddle and 
> told her that "instruments don't matter, it's the musician that makes the 
> music," she would probably think you were an ignoramus (to be charitable). 
> And she'd be right.
> 
> The hard truth is:  Tools do matter.  Maybe not so much with Web-sized 
> JPGs, and maybe not to rank beginners.  But once you're doing things "for 
> real," they do matter. A lot.
> 
> --Peter
> 
> 
> 
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