[Leica] leica m = retro?

[Guy Bennett <guybnt@idt.net>]

>snip
>>
>>   I'm not sure
>> what it is, and I questioned other people about it previously, but I
>> really like the Leica range finder + B&W combo.  Maybe it just seems
>> like since the camera is retro, my film should be, too.  :)


what's 'retro' about the m6? seems to me that it's the latest formulation
of a well-tried, effective design that reaches back almost a century. if
folk find the m6 retro 'cause it doesn't have the latest whiz-bang
features, i think they've missed the point. it's a fine camera that does
exactly what it was intended to do: take great pictures, not simply appeal
to the backward-looking poser.

same thing for b&w - what's retro about that? that it's been around longer
than color? that it imparts a particular 'retro look' to the images? i
realize that the author of the above quote followed his statement with a
:), and that i'm probably making a mountain out of a moll hill, but there
is a common perception that the rangefinder/b&w combination is strictly
passé, and that those photographers using this material are out to
relive/reproduce the photography/aesthetic of the past, which is so much
bs, imho.

sorry for the gripe,

guy