Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/02/24

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Subject: Re: [Leica] New M7, only a Leica
From: Dante Stella <dstella1@ameritech.net>
Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2002 19:10:09 -0500

> The new M7 is not a Konica, a Cosina or a Contax.
> It's only a real Leica M.
> Made for what Leica M were always made for.
> Lucien-

And what is that?  Is it

(a) a camera for studied, precise photography?
(Puts reviewing the Hexar)

or:

(b) a camera for intuitively taking pictures?
(Puts reviewing the M7)

I don't see any Leica philosophy here, nor can there be.  It's a camera, an
inanimate object that produces results.  I see very few people making
results available, and a lot more people fighting about what a Leica is.  it
is a camera, a tool, and in certain instances, a doorstop.

You can argue about philosophy until you are blue in the face, but the
philosophical aspect is entirely constructed, post-hoc.  If you believe the
Leica philosophy is choice (a), and you are rational, you will go right for
modern MF, seeing that there is no substitute for negative size.  If you
believe choice (b), the Leica has been overshadowed by a lot of more modern
equipment.  I think you get the point.

The historic purpose of a Leica was to take big camera pictures with a small
camera.  That may have been uniquely Leica until around 1960, but there is
no such unique purpose now.  Leica's current position statement is:

"Leica products enjoy a cult status: on one hand they are highly refined
designs that are fabricated with unequaled mechanical and optical precision.
On the other hand, they have an extraordinary aura that can evoke feelings
and emotions. And it is precisely this unique combination of that warm aura
and bold, perfect technology that created the Leica mystique. A person who
reaches for a Leica is not just opting for a particular camera, but also for
an exquisite new internal attitude that will affect this personšs way of
taking pictures, it will even determine it."

A camera will determine your way of taking pictures?  God, I hope not.


- ------------
Dante Stella
http://www.dantestella.com

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Replies: Reply from Lucien <director@ubi.edu> (Re: [Leica] New M7, only a Leica)