Re: [Leica] Summer travel observations

[Dave Richards <dprichards@uswest.net>]

My recent experiences echo yours.

My wife and I just returned from 2 weeks in Greece.  I took an M6, 35/2,
50/2 and 90/2.8, along with a bunch of Kodak.  She took per Pentax
point-n-shoot.

I saw no other photographers with Leica anything.  Not even a single
body/lens.  Very few SLRs of any kind, and those mostly full auto product
from Canon, Nikon, etc.  No medium format at all.  I couldn't even find a
decent photo dealer, although given where I was it wasn't surprising.

I'm not sure, however, that blame can be laid entirely on North Americans.
Greece is the summer home of the Germans, with a healthy percentage of
Italians and French.  I expected the Germans to be dripping with
Leica/Zeiss iron, but it just wasn't the case.

Mainly all point-n-shoot, APS(?), and a few digitals.  Oh, yes, and LOTS of
video.  More video cams than still by a wide margin.

On a related note, since it is difficult if not impossible to get film hand
inspected over there, the only place I was able to have that done was
leaving Denver.  Film was xrayed at least 8, perhaps as many as 10 times,
with no apparent ill effects.  Granted, I was using a relatively slow film
(100 ASA), but my prints show no signs of fogging or damage from the heat.

Dave

>My wife, daughter, and I recently returned from a vacation in Europe.  I
took two Leica bodies, an M3 and M2, to record scenery and take the
obligatory family photos.  

>Sad to say, serious photography seems to be a dying hobby.
>
>Andrew Morang
>Vicksburg, Mississippi USA
>
>