All Gone?

<p>Not much happening here - All gone - WHY? Used to be very active and busy once upon a time ;-(.........</p>

<p>Well, since you want a response: I just got a 75mm lux for my M6. Naturally I am wondering about whether I would like to try an M9 body. If you have one do you like it? What are the faults or drawbacks, other than the price? How does it compare to the Canons & Nikons?</p>

<p>The was a thread on the same subject a month or two ago that was closed down by the mods.</p>

<p>It's certainly been a touch quieter this year compared to previously. But it is summer in the northern climes and time for the annual migrations to the ritual mating - oops <em>photographing </em>- grounds. Maybe September and the short days will again see the return of the exotic Leica birds for over-wintering here.</p>

<p>Having just 'snagged' a very cheap and clean R6, I am itching to get out and use it, but the search for an affordable 180mm f3.4 APO is further distracting me . . . Yet if I do buy one I may not be able to afford to leave the house, let alone the home territory. And the threat of too much gear, too little time, is ever present!</p>

<p> </p>

<p>We've all bought, used, sold and discussed every possible combination of Leica body and lens in existence, and now spend our time snapping fine art photos with our Iphones! :)<br>

Seriously, interest goes in cycles. Things will pick up.</p>

<p>As time goes and more and more questions get asked, then there is more information available on the net. One may not need to post a question because it was asked last year.</p>

<p>All of the forums are much quieter than in the good old days. I think that digital is a lot of reason, most of us have graduated to digital and as a result we prefer to take photos and show them rather than talk about equipment which we used to do while we waited for photos to come back from the processors. A lot of the mystique has left photography as digital is a great leveller. This is not necessarily bad, of course.</p>

<p>Just you wait, 'Ery 'Iggens, just you wait :-)</p>

I like it as quiet as it is now. Too much noise and bickering in the past.

<p>I think it is just because of summer, and maybe the economy. I remember a lot more "what should I buy?" threads in the past. I'm glad to see those gone for now.</p>

<p></p>

<p >There are probably a number of reasons, including the summer, but another may be the number of alternative forums on RF or Leica photography. One of the other forums I am not a member of but which I occasionally look at includes a few well known Leica users, like Bill Pearce and Roger Hicks, to name but two. </p>

<p > </p>

<p >I personally prefer the set-up of Photo.Net forums, because the presentation is simpler and I find it easier to follow discussions. It would be good for this forum to have a few very well-known Leica users, especially those who might be interested in discussing their approaches with the RF camera, whatever the make.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >It is also unfortunate that those who give Leica workshops, or are close to the strategy of Leica, are not frequent posters. While it is good to share opinions and approaches with other amateur or professional Leica photographers, the former might inject some new thoughts into this forum.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Perhaps also the increasing high cost of new Leica equipment is diminishing the number of photographers able to invest in RF photography. There are many desirable Leica products beyond my ability to pay or of simply too limited a use to seriously consider. My own acquisitions are often second hand Leica items, and some of this older equipment has already been the subject of discussions and approaches to use.</p>

<p > </p>

<p > </p>

 

 

<p>Arthur, Roger Hicks was a great contributor to PN, making over 7000 posts.<br>

http://www.photo.net/photodb/user?user_id=777437</p>

<p>I don't know why he left, but I did see he seemed to be flamed at times, the last time I noticed was when he again mentioned a book he wrote. (A shame really, it was a great book, I bought it before I even heard of him.)</p>

<p>I think Jay left (banned) and is off mumbling to himself, "Dammit they won't listen to me, the MP rewind is terrible!". I'm not sure why Al K. left, there was a rumor he was caught spanking monkey, jaja.</p>

<p>Those colorful days are long gone, but the Leica Forum was more of a Feisty Old Man Club than a photo forum, but it sure was fun. Times change.</p>

<p>But I'm still amazed there are so few higher end lenses for sale. Keh used to have more then 3-4 Noctis for sale, a bunch of 17/1,4s, 35/1,4 ASPHs were common. Now you only see these being advertised on fleaBay out of Hong Kong for crazy prices. Any ideas? M9 buyers soaking them up?</p>

<p>Bruce, I used to see the 75/1,4 selling for 2-300 bucks more then the current 2.0 ASPH used, now either is scarce. The price of the 1,4 started to rise as the M8.x was accepted for what it was. I know a few M8 shooters that bought it. On an M9 it could only be better.</p>

<p>So why has the used market availability for the 35/1,4s, 75/1,4s, most of the 50s disappeared?</p>

<p><em>"Having just 'snagged' a very cheap and clean R6, I am itching to get out and use it, but the search for an affordable 180mm f3.4 APO is further distracting me"</em><br>

I have been also keeping an eye for one of those 180/3.4's, from the auction site to other classifieds, they are simply expensive as hell, particularly the cleaner samples.<br>

One of these days.</p>

<p>Vahe</p>

 

<p>Michael, I also miss Jay. Not sure why he was banned. It seemed to me that there were several others that were far more objectionable than Jay that really ruined the Forum a few years ago. It was for that reason that I left for a couple of years.</p>

<p>I believe that Al Kaplan passed away last year. A real loss of a fine contributor.</p>

<p>Another superb photographer that hasn't been around for a while is Marc Williams from Franklin, Michigan. He seemed to be very busy but his posts were excellent. He had a great "eye".</p>

<p>I have no digital equipment - just an adequate selection of M gear and a Liecaflex SL with 4 lenses. Don't use the R gear at all now and may sell it soon. I have some of my better slides scanned to cds and perhaps should post a few of them. Things will probably pick up once the cold weather returns for those of us in North America.</p>

<p>It definitely is quieter now than what I remembered. Personally I have cycles in interest in my hobbies. Sometimes I like to take photos, sometimes I like to play guitar... Its a real shame to hear about Al Kaplan. I enjoyed his posts.</p>

<p>Yeah Al died in January, I believe (or maybe it was January when I heard about it). His family has kept his website up, but there isn't a lot of activity there these days. I use other Leica sites more than Pnet, just because there are less repetitive questions.</p>

I don't recall seeing a post on the M9 or S2 for quite some time, and if there are any, they aren't

very frequent. If I had a question on the M9 I'm not sure this is where I'd ask it. Most of the people

here seem to be into film gear.

I go to the L-Camera forum at times but the posters are very caustic, much worse than here. Even some of the mods seem to get into the I know more than you know off topic craposts.

 

I think Al was banned sometime in 07, at least that's when his last post was.

 

I like the RFF where roger Hicks has seemed to have parked since leaving here. But I can't join as they say my Hotmail account is spam. APUG is also very good, but I just can't stand the digital revolution invented name "analog". Just a matter of silly principle.

 

So I guess it's up to us to make this forum a lively and fun place. I wish we could get some fresh blood from the Pentax forum, a great bunch over there.

<p>Hot humid weather; bad economy; overpriced Leica offerings (buying, trying, and selling is not as easy as it was ten years ago); general depression all round.</p>

<p>My friend is a very proud owner of Leica M9/M7 bodies, and he has all prime glasses for it.<br>

I just showed him an new bridge camera, the Fujifilm Finepix HS10, with its very long 24 - 720mm (!) zoom lens, which I've bought for my son for his trekking tours. The results are more than stunning!<br>

O.K., you really won't compare these two cameras, but, my friend got a little thoughtful, and he got so excited about it, that he will be for sure, going to buy this little camera for him.<br>

Just for fun!</p>

<p>WNW used to be a hot topic on this forum, but no more. This activity apparently has moved over to No Words forum, with new theme and photo topics everyday, much like this forum of bygone days.</p>

 

<p>I sometimes find valuable information in <a href="http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a.tcl?topic=Leica+Photography">these older posts</a>.</p>

<p>Personally, I had to sell most of my Leica gear to buy a digital kit, and the price of the M8/M9 seemed out of the realm of reality and impossible for me to justify. In the days when film was king the s/h Leica market was expensive but just about do-able. I would love an M9, but it's high price has taken me out of the Leica realm - although I still have all my old Leica pics of course. I don't think I am alone. If you want to stay with film then Leica is still a good prospect; but, let's be honest, the vast majority of people have switched or are switching to digital. I may well go back to Leica when there is a good number of secondhand M9s around and they are seen to be "old" with a concurrent drop in price. The other issue I see is the way that many 3rd party M mount lenses are no longer ideal on digital M Leicas - no metadata, aberration correction etc that you only get with genuine M lenses - this inhibits the influx of new users starting with budget VC and ZM lenses.</p>

<p>By the way, this is not a criticism of Leica as if I could afford it, an M9 kit would be superb; but for me now Leica is not a sensible option from this time forward. A shame, as I was a 25 year Leica M and R veteran. I do think these considerations have reduced the number of photonetters wanting to talk Leica.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>the price of the M8/M9 seemed out of the realm of reality and impossible for me to justify. In the days when film was king the s/h Leica market was expensive but just about do-able</p>

</blockquote>

<p>+1 M8, M9 too much $$$...</p>

<p>Robin,</p>

<p>You will probably agree that the $2500 (for near-mint used condition) M8 may not be a best alternative in view of its 1.33X crop factor, but the less expensive VC and Zeiss lenses can in fact be coded to allow corrections for digital M Leica use. The coding (after market templates for coding) may not be perfect, but it is reasonable in both cost and efficiency. My experience is that lenses of focal length of 50mm and longer do not need the coding for most applications. One can have a used digital Leica and a few new VC lenses for something in the $3000 to $3500 price range. A new M9 with those lenses would be about 2.5 X that cost. </p>

<p>The high cost of Leica digital cameras has no doubt impacted on the Leica RF forum activity level. I wonder how many film Leicaists have added non-Leica digital equipment to their camera bags? With the Leica to Canon lens mount conversion, The 5D Mark II must be an appealing device for some.</p>