Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/01/08
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]on 8/1/00 7:45 am, Gaifana@aol.com at Gaifana@aol.com wrote: > Sometimes a camera is just a camera. > > Someone was talking about Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Speaking of > millimeterage, has anyone on this group notice that when two men carrying > cameras, and especially Leicas, Contax Gs or anything with a one-touch zoom, > walk into the same room they will almost instinctively look at and evaluate > each other's (photo) equipment? When I have been out sightseeing I have > observed this worldwide (I keep my LTM gear in my coat pocket, because many > types resembling child molesters will tend to ask questions about anything > that remotely looks like a Leica). Is there some kind of substitution going > on?! > Well in my neck of the woods, M cameras attract very little attention (predatory or otherwise). Most amateurs and pros up here have had very little exposure to Leica Ms and seem to write them off as p&s cameras (like an old Canon SureShot). My most frequent comments are: " So where are you from?" and "Are you enjoying your stay in Edmonton?". These are followed closely by: "Hey! The flash did not go off." People found my big SLRs much more intimidating in the "substitution" swing of things and now must assume my "performance" will be lacking as I presently carry only Ms. Occasionally someone recognizes the cameras but not very often. Once a chap came up and asked if he could handle my Ms and I cheerfully obliged him (seemed harmless enough to me). With M cameras you get the best of both worlds: great pictures and your subject's sympathy as you could not afford a "real" camera. John Collier, (who looks suspiciously like a child molester when he sees LTM stuff too)