Re: [Leica] no pros use Leicas?

[Dave Yoder <leica@home.com>]

I'd like to point out that a rather large number of newspaper photographers use
Leicas as their secondary or "special assignment" cameras. At my paper, the
Orange County Register (California), six of fourteen full-time staffers have at
least one Leica of some kind. Admittedly, two of them seldom use theirs, but
they keep them for future use. And I know that a number of photographers at the
LA Times use M's as secondary cameras.

Myself, I was dissapointed in the new EOS equipment issued to me last year and
felt I was at a junction--either go all digital, which my bosses expect me to do
within three years (we'll see about that!) or finally commit myself to producing
the best quality work I possibly can during this period that I still have all
the Fujichrome I can shoot at my disposal. So I went R's (I've used rangefinders
before and though I love them, I miss moments).

I anticipate there might be more newspaper photographers doing as I've done
after a period of seeing their best work rendered mediocre by a CCD. Since the
newspapers will be issuing only digital gear, and knowing how passionate about
their work photojournalists must be to succeed these days, I see more leicas
being bought to feed the passion. We didn't get into this for the money, after
all...

Dave Yoder

"Robert G. Stevens" wrote:

> Eric:
>
> Not a lot of pros use Leica gear because they cannot afford it initially.
> There are good pros that use it and they can afford it because they are
> good at their job and are paid accordingly.  Another problem is people
> think of newspaper photographers as the majority of the pros.  They just
> shoot what they are given or what the paper has a good loaner pool of lenses.
>
> Just locally I have shown my Leicas to two Pros who are very interested in
> the quality of the Leica images.  One is getting ready to dump his EOS gear
> and go to Leica. He wants an R8 and two M series cameras. The other had
> Leica and switched to Nikon in the 1980's because Leica did not offer
> something in their system that he needed.  He now is very interested in
> seeing my 105-280, as he has heard good reports about it.  In these cases,
> the firs pro is an photographer for a magazine and the second one is an
> artist that specializes in landscapes.
>
> Regards
>
> Robert
>
> At 09:25 PM 8/22/99 EDT, you wrote:
> >Okay,
> >
> >So I'm new here.  But... after looking at the website for this list
> ><http://www.komvux.skola.mark.se/lug.htm> and reading the list owner's
> >message, this is a list for Leica _rangefinder_ cameras (emphasis mine).  So
> >then, shall we all keep it to that?  Nothing more about SLR's,
> auto-whatever,
> >film types, computers, photo printing, scotch, or anything else?  Is that
> >what is required here?  Fine.  Maybe we should all take these toys and just
> >throw them in the dumpster anyway, since no pro that I personally know even
> >uses Leica gear!  I'm just a "damn yuppie", who makes up for lack of talent
> >with expensive gear.
> >
> >By the way, if you consider this a rant.  Please be at peace.  This is
> >nothing.  Not even the tip of the iceberg.  I'm just a crabby semi-middle
> >aged person who is extremely p*ss*d at himself for blowing money on gear
> that
> >I do not need.
> >
> >Eric Platt
> >
> >