[Leica] Violins, lenses and cameras

[photo at frozenlight.eu (Nathan Wajsman)]

I remember reading recently about a blind test where modern, mass produced 
violins were at least on par if not better than Stradivarius--the test 
subjects were professional musicians, not just casual listeners.

Cheers,
Nathan

Nathan Wajsman
Alicante, Spain
http://www.frozenlight.eu
http://www.greatpix.eu
PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws
Blog: http://nathansmusings.wordpress.com/

YNWA









On May 17, 2014, at 12:27 AM, Peter Klein 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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