Re: [Leica] Meta Photokina (F3)

["Joe Codispoti" <joecodi@thegrid.net>]

B.D.,

with all due respect to anyone's opinion, I think that here there more at
play than objective criticism.

I do not believe that a designer is given carte blanche in designing
anything. The design is always approved by those who write the check
therefore to say that the designer (in this case) created an inferior
product solely of his own volition and for whatever reasons is stretching it
somewhat.
When the engineers at Ford took a look at the body design for the new
Taurus - with oval everything - they howled for they new it would be an
assembly nightmare. But it was the head of Ford who insisted on the design
and the assembly people were stuck with all the problems related to the
avant garde look of the car.

Personally I consider the F3 the best single-lens 35mm reflex ever produced.
I could easily agree that the off-center shoe is not ideal, I have used
those cameras for many years in my work. However, the F and F2 were already
in use by many years when Giuggiaro was given the assignment. At worst it
looks to me like he maintained continuity.
I am sure it was considered that placing the flash on the prism would have
weakened the bond to the body or would have made the camera bulkier (in
order to make the mating to the body secure).

Don't forget that the F3 is probably the most enduring camera ever, having
survived 20 years alongside all sorts of  new entries with far more whistles
and bells. There must be a good reason for that record, part quality and
part pleasing and simple design.
I am sure that among the group of designers responsible for all three models
many pros and cons were considered before deciding the location of the flash
shoe.

Cheers,
Joe C.





- ----- Original Message -----
From: "B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Wednesday, September 20, 2000 5:44 PM
Subject: RE: [Leica] Meta Photokina


> So it is not stupidity nor genius. It is a matter of necessity.
> > I do however wonder about the "genius" of denigrating other's ideas and
> > motives without considering all the facts.
> >
> > Joe C
> >
> Oh, PUULLLEEEEEEEEZE!...Consider all the facts and it is the stupidity
> inherent in giving a "designer" control over a functional tool. It would
> have been easy enough to put shoes on the prisms..plural...I had an F3 for
a
> number of year, and will attest to the fact that it was - and still is - a
> really terrific camera. But the shoe placement was, well, inane.
>
> And if we can't denigrate a designer here, where can we? By the way, was
the
> same design genius responsible for that shoe and for not being able to
> figure out how to get both a battery and self-timer into an M6, or was
that
> a different design genius? ;-)
>
> B. D.
>
>