[Leica] M8 Article in LFI

[dommorris at rogers.com (Dominic Morris)]

Thanks, Peter.

I have been following this 'consumerism' sub-thread with a great deal  
of interest and your note comes closest to my own feelings.  My  M8  
is paid for with delivery pending but as my bride  takes that long,  
very leisurely stroll down the aisle, I'm still questioning my sanity  
and vanity.

Look, I don't own a car. I buy my clothes at Mark's Work Warehouse.  
When I want to go up-market I'll drop into Eddie Bauer. I don't own a  
house preferring a too-small downtown apartment. I will confess to  
choosing my place because it's in a pretty funky neighbourhood and  
to  wearing a 12 year old Movado  but so non-flash you have to squint  
to see the label, and my apartment is furnished with much-loved 14  
year old furniture that was up-scale but not top-of-the-line when  
new. When I did own a car it was an Olds Omega and it was a reliable  
companion for close to 12 years. Not quite the 20 promised by the  
Mercedes dealer but I understand what he meant. I have a small  
collection of Innuit carvings. Not the big honking things the  
tourists buy but intimate, pocket-sized pieces with clean simple  
simple lines, true to the nomadic soul of the culture that gave them  
birth.

These few things I acquired as an investment in soulfulness. In the  
aesthetics. Re ipso. In the thing itself, if my Latin still serves,  
or as you so aptly put it 'taking pride of ownership of "something  
that is exquisitely well-made."'  Somewhere I have an Aran sweater  
that's probably older than some in this group. Hell, it's way older  
than me! It is one of those things that is more than just a thing.

As I expect will the M8, in addition to the pragmatism of its sleek,  
unobtrusive lines and superior image quality.  it  will also be a  
cruel task-master, leaving me to make my own mistakes. No longer will  
I be able to blame that blankety-blank auto-focus/exposure/white  
balance thing-a-ma-jig. It will force me to relearn properly the  
stuff I thought I knew in the 70s and that appeals to both my control  
freak side and my innate masochism.

And talk about a great place to get that learning! Man this group of  
people is the mother-lode.

Think I might have said too much, but not changing a word. Sorry.

And to all a good night.

Dom


On 12-Jan-07, at 6:55 PM, Peter Klein wrote:

I think B. D. is correct about high-end goods and status. It's how a  
lot of things are sold.  The way I look at it is that the status  
seekers make it possible for the goods to exist.  So then I can later  
buy them used for a price I can afford.  :-)

"Snob-appeal marketing" opens up the whole can of worms about a  
consumer society whose values are largely determined by the incessant  
drumbeat of marketing. "You are what you buy," Keeping Up With the  
Joneses, and so forth.  It's a false god which is worshipped by far  
too many of both the haves and the have-nots.

But pity the hapless Leica owners who simply uses Leica because it's  
the best photographic tool for him or her--for whatever reason.   
Every so often, they are going to be set upon by a scold who looks at  
a high-end label as a cue to vent their rage at a "fat cat."  Or one  
who believes that the Leica user is blinded by brand loyalty to the  
fact that the latest DSLR "will do everything and more than the Leica  
does, for far less."  For examples of both, see the Leica forum on  
Photo.net any day. And sometimes even here.

That's one reason why I cover the Leica logos on my cameras with  
black tape.  I don't want anyone to assume I am:

A. Filthy rich and therefore responsible for poverty and racism, or
B. A mindless status-seeker with more bucks than brains,

. . .and proceed to hassle me for said crimes against humanity. Or  
try to rip me off.

I just want to take pictures, unobtrusively with the camera that has  
proven best for me.  And yes, I do have pride of ownership of  
"something that is exquisitely well-made."

People who recognize a Leica M without the logos visible are more  
likely to be non-thieves and non-hostile (I think, I hope!). I'm  
happy to have a pleasant chat with photography afficianados of the  
latter stripe.

--Peter "I bought 'em used" Klein

B. D. wrote:
> It is certainly true that there are people who buy high-end goods for
> the sheer joy of owning something that is equisitely well made. But  
> most
> of such products are sold as status symbols to people who feel the  
> need
> to show off their bank statements.



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