Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/11/12
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Thomas wrote: It's a tired old saw, but as anyone who has used a view camera knows, the camera just holds the film. - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Thomas, I don't think 35 mm cameras are just glorified film holders. I'm no Leica worshipper either, and I've only had my M6 for half a year, but last night I was printing some portraits of my kids (age 5 and 3) that really gave me some pause for Leica. My M6 has captured images of my kids that is a tremendous esthetic improvement over similar pix from my Nikon F3. I'm not talking about technical aspects of the image here, I'm referring to something more ephemeral, something that might be described as an "essence" of my children. This "essence" was elusive and unphotographable with my F3. Is it because there is no mirror blackout, or the short shutter delay, or what, I don't know. My eye hasn't improved, I've been taking pictures for 20 years now with cameras ranging in size from a Cannonet to a Sinar P. All I know is that my recent portraits of my kids are great and the Leica camera has something to do with it. Am I crazy? Probably. I once thought that bokeh was a ridiculous concept, but am now a firm believer. As it says in the Leica brochures: Is Leica the only camera with a soul? I don't know, but it certainly feels that way. Am I insane? Definitely yes. I just bought a IIIa with an uncoated Summar to go with my M6. Jonathan Lee