Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/06/23
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]John, >>Hmmm, it was one of those nights last night, maybe I should not send..... << I wrote the following a few weeks ago and held up sending. But now you've given me the courage to do so.:-) THINGS I'VE LEARNED I'll never mention "pop-up flash" as an option I'd like to see on an "improved" M body... The Black Paint LHSA M6 -- while already appealing -- will be infinately moreso once production stops.... Ambient light measurement using the hand held meter for my M2, M3, M4, and M4P was "novel". Then I purchased an M6, whenceforth "novel" became synonymous with "exceedingly cumbersome"... Lens shades ARE important. UVa filters aren't. The beauty I saw in the performance of my "classic M lenses" dwindled, once I could afford the latest M offerings. Though I now can afford the the latest offerings I work so many hours that I have no time for photography. (Somewhere in that a lesson is hidden.). The countless hours spent peering at MTF charts that I couldn't read, much less understand, was time wasted. I should have moved to Leica -- both M and R -- sooner and ingored the charts. When I had AF cameras they were the greatest....until the next generation of AF came along. A tripod can improve a lens, considerably. My very first camera -- a Kodak 35 -- would still be a great picture taker...if the shutter worked. Reliability is more important than lens performance. When lacking, the former is much more noticable -- and annoying -- than the latter. Good projection lenses and enlarger lenses are worth the cost. Lens performance is inversely related to coffee consumption and directly related to fitness (at least for hand held photography). Anyone who doesn't think the latest Leica lenses are superb should start making 16X20 inch enlargements. One should never use a loupe to view detail in a projected slide image...unless you happen to be the invisible man. The thrill of seeing a good b/w photograph come to life under a safelight never gets old (seeing a scanned image pop on the screen just isn't the same). Still learning. Dave