Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/08/22

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Subject: RE: [Leica] digitalrebel
From: Douglas Herr <telyt@earthlink.net>
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 09:41:49 -0700 (GMT-07:00)

bdcolen <bdcolen@earthlink.net> wrote:

> The oft repeated canard that digital forces one to 'trade up' every
> 12-18 months is pretty hilarious when read so often on a list which is
> probably dominated by people who are using film equipment that is
> anywhere from 30-60 years old, including lenses which "glow" - meaning
> they produce soft, flare prone images and often suffer from other
> optical aberrations. If one can comfortably use a Leica lens
> manufactured in, say, 1955, a Leica lens which may not have even then
> been up to the standards being set by Zeiss and Nikon, and a lens which
> is now a Coke-bottle-bottom when compared to the latest Leica lenses,
> why can't one buy a 5 mgp digital camera and be happy with it for the
> next five to 10 years?

I'm not sure my first resopnse got through so I'll try again...

Film cameras are upgraded each time we buy a new emulsion.  Your analogy would be more accurate if the collective 'we' were using old films in our old cameras.  I certainly wouldn't be satisfied if I were still using Kodachrome X or High Speed Ektachrome from the early 1970s, though at the time they were very satisfactory films.  My 30-year-old cameras are still quite usable and produce very satisfactory results with modern films.


Doug Herr
Birdman of Sacramento
http://www.wildlightphoto.com
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