Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/09/07

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Leica Users digest V20 #298
From: Craig Semetko <csemetko@earthlink.net>
Date: Fri, 07 Sep 2001 07:53:51 -0700

Alfie asked: 
"I was interested in seeing what non-Leica photographers on this list
use..."

Hello All,

Well, about a year and a half ago, I only owned a N***n 6006 with a standard
cheap zoom sold with the body. (35-70, I believe it was) Frankly, I never
thought a great deal about taking pictures. Then, I got a FANTASTIC job that
sent me to England, Ireland, Japan, China, and all over the U.S. over a four
month period. A shot I took without a lot of thought of two women on a very
small boat in a canal two hours outside Shanghai changed EVERYTHING. When I
saw the print I realized I could do something other than simply document
where I had been and with whom. When I got back to Los Angeles, I went to
Samy's Camera to buy a 17-35 zoom for the N***n. I was shaking at the
thought of spending over a thousand dollars for just a lens! (How innocent I
was.) Anyway, Nigel, the Leica person there, asked me what I liked to shoot.
I told him candids of people. I also mentioned I travel a lot. He slowly
guided my away from the N***n stuff while asking, "Have you ever thought of
a Leica?" That was a year ago last May. I now shoot with 3 M6 TTLs and an
R7. I have become obsessed with photography and the M6 in particular. I sold
the N***n. I have a Yashica T4 as well, and have tried other cameras, but I
keep coming back to the M6. I rarely even use the R7. I have recently played
with the Minolta Maaxum 7, and believe it is an excellent camera with more
bang for the buck than an F-100, but I have found that the vast majority of
what I shoot falls between 21mm and 90mm and nothing handles like an M6.

I guess this doesn't qualify me as a "non-Leica photographer," but what the
heck, I felt like writing.


Cheers,

Craig