Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/11/09

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Leica ads in National Geographic
From: Mike Dembinski <mdembin@it.com.pl>
Date: Mon, 09 Nov 1998 22:06:08 +0100

Carsten Bockermann wrote:

> Pasacal,
>
> >>Odd result: Leica has published ads in National Geographic from January
> >>1929 till June 1961, not nothing later

Ah! Golden Years. Prompts me to dip into my extensive collection of 1950s Nat
Geogs (acquired for pennies down London's Charing Cross Road in the early
'80s).

At random: June 1956. Ads for Graflex Graphic 35 (with f/2.8lens: $87.50) Take
it in Color with a Graphic 35"..."Exclusive push button focusing". Nikon S2
(with 50mm Nikkor f2....$299.50 with 50mm Nikkor f1.4.....$345) "The 35mm
camera that created a new standard for design..." (a bit rich for an improved
copy of the 1930s Contax II) "...and performance". Canon Model V "The New
Leader!" A full-page color ad for the Kodak Stereo Camera "We can't really show
you this picture..." couple by a rocky shore - "...but your Kodak dealer can!"
Price: $84.50. Half page mono for Zeiss Ikon Contaflex "For great shots - for
fast shots first you must see clearly - brilliantly". Here the copywriter goes
into laughable overdrive: "Zeiss Ikon Contaflex, seeing though the great Zeiss
Tessar f/2.8 lens with wide open diaphragm, is the only camera with SUPER
VISION... This fast, versatile single-lens reflex does your thinking for
you..." (strikes a familiar chord with ads for APS zoom autofocus jobbies)
"...with five fully automatic operations in a fraction of a second. Only $149
at leading dealers"

But here's our one: "for picture discoveries there's nothing like a Leica"...
"New Leica M3 lifetime investment in perfect photography". Hmm. Can't fault the
copywriter there. But... "The world's most advanced camera"? What was more
advanced in 1956 than an M3?. "Its automatic features perform for you with an
ease beyond comparison". Well maybe after 17 years of using Leica Ms it does
sort of perform for me automatically, but only because much of the
thought-process behind using it has become internalised. And at the end of the
ad - no price mentioned. There's CLASS for you.

It was a lovely world, Nat Geogs from the '50s. Ads for Cadillacs with
glamorous women in ballgowns, ads for "Gay European Vactions with SAS". Ceylon
was "The Happy Island", rather than war-torn Sri Lanka, "Greek and Turkish
farmers, neighbours all, tilled land side by side", Anchorage hosted "fur
fashion shows" and whales had better keep a look out!

Mike