Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/07/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 09:17 PM 7/20/98 +0200, Alan wrote: >>It would, IMHO, be irresponsible to allow a child to walk around with a >>Leica. The child could be mugged and robbed. >> This is totally un-true. I find that very very few people know what a Leica is. One would be far more likely to be mugged while carrying a Nikon, Minolta, Canon, or Pentax. These are household brand names. Leica is not. During the decades of using a Leica, and my son's 17 years of using a Leica (he's 27 now) I can count on one hand the number of people who, while talking to them out in the field, knew what the brand Leica is. If you are worried... use black tape. >> >>Apart from that I don't think a child could do justice to the camera >>and lens, as they cannot hold a heavy all metal camera steady. >> Anyone who has spent any time at all hand holding cameras (or guns,) knows that the heavy equipment is much easier to hold *steady*. In gun lingo, it's a heavy barrel. Made HEAVY **especially** so it can be held STEADY. This is a very very well known and researched fact. And "a child couldn't do justice to the camera and lens"... what the hell does that mean? >> >>All it would prove is that the child had a silly dillitant for a dad. >> Another unbelievably stupid statement! Unfortunately, posts like this really get under my skin. Each and every statement was made without any knowledge or thought about truth and reality. Error, misconceptions, innuendo, and downright misleading data. And the last statement takes the cake. Even though misspelled, the intent is there. And people read this stuff, without thinking, and believe it. Like the photo store owner (I forget where) told the customer, who was buying an enlarger... "since you are using a Leica to take pictures, you *have* to use a Leica lens in your enlarger." The customer believed him, and the un-truth persisted. People reading and believing Alan's post would: Never let a child use a Leica (really really dumb); Look for the lightest weight equipment to hand hold (the exact opposite of what should be done); and feel like a dabbling amateur - a dilettante - which also is the exact opposite of what is true. Folks... use not only your spell checker, but also your intelligence checker. Know what you are saying before you say it. Gullible people read the LUG. Stereotyping the size of a child vs. the size of adults, in various world cultures, is not at all valid. The LUG is world wide. Kammiswarren Sivamanni, a 50 year old software engineer and colleague of mine, and his wife, are both smaller than my son when my son was ten years old. Thanks Alan, I'll warn them that they should never use a Leica. Jim