Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/09/04

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Subject: Re: [Leica] lower classes don't use leicas?
From: "Mxsmanic" <mxsmanic@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 4 Sep 2001 16:15:03 +0200
References: <B7BAA234.12F2B%tarek.charara@wanadoo.fr>

Tarek writes:

> My experience also goes for automatic cameras.

My experience is that automatic cameras (at least those of professional quality)
make decisions no worse than my own in a majority of situations, and often
considerably better.

> 99% Wow! Fantastic. Great. I think it's more a
> 80/20 ratio.

Your experience may differ.

> BS. My Arca Swiss is not even a rangefinder
> and it's a damn good professional camera.

I do not see the relevance of this.

> You'll need a 1/16000 of a second to shoot
> at 2.8 with Tri-X rated at 400ISO ...

No.  Under typical daylight conditions, an extra stop is necessary.  The most
common exposure for Provia 100F for me in daylight, for example, is f/8 at
1/250, or one stop more than the Sunny-16 rule would imply.  Sunny-16 applies to
brilliantly sunlit subjects only.

> In my original post I suggested a ND filter...

There is no ND filter built into the M.

> I wonder how they used to do it before F5's
> came out? Huh? Hey Anthony, how did they do
> it before?

In many cases, they didn't.  There are some techniques that can work under some
conditions, such as prefocusing, but one notes that many sports photos seen
today simply were not taken at all decades ago.

> Rewind and put in another roll.

That is difficult to do in one or two seconds.

> Or are you trying to tell me that you are so
> broke you can't afford to do that?

I am pointing out the realities of taking pictures, although I find it odd that
I must do so on a list nominally discussing photography.

> Like when you're tired of focusing?

Yes, or when you can't focus accurately or quickly enough for the circumstances.

> In my career I haven't encountered many
> situations like that.

Then you have something yet to look forward to.  I have encountered such
situations.

> Speedy to me means they get the camera repaired
> before my next assignment ...

That won't help you for your current assignment.  How far apart are your
assignments?

> If you can afford them and can carry them why not.

Indeed.  But many people cannot afford them, and many professional photographers
cannot justify the expense--in business, you must justify expenses, rather than
simply spend money because it is on hand.

> I guess you still don't get it... I don't buy
> identical cameras ONLY because one could break.
> I actually use them.

Then speaking of them as if you buy them only to protect against equipment
failure in the context of this discussion is misleading.

> The original point was answering your statements ...

I'm still waiting for the criteria applied by Leica to determine whether or not
a photographer is "professional."  I asked you about that several times, and you
haven't answered.

In reply to: Message from Tarek Charara <tarek.charara@wanadoo.fr> (Re: [Leica] lower classes don't use leicas?)