So, What's the big deal with Leica?

[charles_stobbs3]

I believe the Porsche 914 was so named only in the US. In most of the world it eas sold by Volkswagen as a replacement for the Karman Ghia.

The engine was from the Volkswagen 312 series. Here, the Porsche dealers were going broke so they were allowed to sell it to have a low priced product to attract customers into yhe showroom.

[john dorfman]

Using an LTM is easy once you get used to it. I bought a Leica IIIc seven years ago and

basically learned photography on it. The bottom loading and the small finder didn't

seem like a big deal to me because I had very little to compare them to. Now working

with them is second nature. From the beginning, I got -- and still get -- great

satisfaction from the mechanical feel and look of the camera, as well as ergonomic

ease from the size and shape.

 

I kind of disagree with the statement that using a screw-mount Leica should make

you slow down. I think of them as cameras for thoughtful snapshots, or artful

snapshots, call it what you like. Meaning you think about the picture in advance, but

shoot quickly, without stressing too much about exact exposure and framing (Of

course, you can take your time and compose as with an SLR, put it on a tripod,

whatever you want). Use negative film, and guessing the exposure will not be hard.

Once you know what you want to photograph, you can fire off exposures rapidly.

True, turning the knob is slightly slower than cocking a lever, but I've found that it

doesn't make too much difference in practice. You wouldn't use one of these cameras

in a situation that calls for a motor drive, anyway. But when the LTMs were new,

journalists used them to capture fleeting action, and they did it very well. Maybe guys

like Capa got fewer keepers on a roll than today's PJs (although I wonder how many

they trash off a digital card), but with the perspective of time, does it really matter?

 

As for the lenses, I don't think the Leica appeal has much to do with that, especially

not in the "classic" era, pre-1960s. I do appreciate the collapsibility of some of the

50mm lenses, which goes well with the compactness theme, but the screw-mount

lenses from Canon and Nikon as as good or better than many Leitz products. Now I'm

using a Canon 50/1.8 and it's great. And of course, there are so many high-quality

lenses, German and Japanese and other, for so many camera systems, RF and

otherwise, that it's pointless, in my mind, to single out Leica. I do know that back in

the 1930s, no one was talking about the special, creamy signature of any

particular lens; they were seeking maximum resolution, or "definition," as they used

to say. And speed -- although Leitz was ususally ready to sacrifice speed for image

quality. Note the proliferation of f3.5 or slower lenses during a time when Zeiss and

the Japanese were making faster ones.

 

Anyway, I say enjoy it!

[mskovacs]

John is right on the money. Leica had it right when they designed the Barnack cameras to be compact and to be used in candid style. 4x5 was (is) for bolting onto a tripod and thinking your shot through to the nth degree, not a compact rangefinder.

 

It was being among the early (and best) adopters of this style that made HCB, Capa and others famous. You simply couldn't capture such images any other way than with the "new" 35mm still format.

[john schroeder]

Ryan; Leica's make you use the computer between your ears. With practice it is your most powerfull tool. Leica's are considered, by some, to be the perfect interface between you mind and film. While using a Leica you must think about every aspect of your photograph. You must learn to think ahead so you can be ready for what might happen. The better you get at doing that, the more you will love your Leica.

[disneyry]

Thanks for all of the feedback. Lately I've been shooting a Mamiya RB67, so the manual nature of the Leica won't be new. I haven't shot any 35mm in a couple of months, but I've got probably 50 feet of tri-x that I should use up. Hopefully it won't take too long to get the new toy in working order.

[disneyry]

BTW, what's the story on the "real Leitz reloadable cassettes"? Are these essential, or convenient?

[james_baker6]

Well Ryan, there is one other thing----You will really look way retro-cool with the III Leica hanging around your neck---and that alone is something.......

[Andrew in Austin]

Ryan, I don't know about retro cool, but I have been asked if my IIIf is really a camera by some newly weds.

 

Since you have the RB67, you'll do fine with this little shooter. It is "antique", but it is still able to take photos with surprizing precision when using either a collapsible 50mm or in my case indoors with a 75mm C/V Color Heliar as well.

 

To add to what John Dorfmann said, with 35mm focal length and bright-line viewfinder, you can get away with zone focusing and take quick snaps with the III series with no problem.

 

Any feeling of retro-cool is in our heads. I find that the digital folks couln't care less.

[steve_mcallister]

>Oscar Blome , jun 06, 2005; 12:16 p.m.

Steve would be a funnier read if he didn't use so many literary contortions. A few zingers can make you look like a redneck but it's entirely too thick here. Dood.<

 

For one thing there ain't no rednecks west of the Missippi accept for Bakersfield. For the second thing I ain't the one who thinks hes real smart for callin himself Oscar (as in Barnack) Blow-me on the Leica forum. And for the third thing, kiss my one eith Navajo red a-s-s.

[johns1]

Ryan,

 

If the shutter works at all, just hold the Leica in your hands and click off a few shots at 1/60 or 1/125. You'll never get that sound and feel with any other photographic device.

 

NOW you've been infected with the Leica disease for which there is no cure. Treatment involves pressing that camera into use and feeding it with a continuous stream of new optics.

[kelly_flanigan1]

Re : <I>the air was cleaner and purer then,"<BR><BR>.

 

In the 'twenties to the 'fifties the air was certainly NOT cleaner. Anyone who's walked through a London fog, coughing their lungs inside out, could tell you that. </i><BR><BR>In the USA midwest; the 1930's were often called the "DIRTY THIRTIES"; due to the horrible DUST BOWLS; which tore up and ruined alot of farms; blizzard like.

[al_kaplan1]

Yup, factories and trains ran on coal, houses, schools, and businesses were heated with coal, chemical plants spewed noxious fumes into the air, garbage and trash was burned in the open air, everything from chemicals to raw sewage was dumped untreated into rivers, lakes and bays, and this was all considered a sign of prosperity ~ JOBS! It wasn't until the 1970's that things started to improve.

[icuneko]

<...there ain't no rednecks west of the Missippi accept for Bakersfield.> You ain't bin ta Orgon yet, have ya? LOL

 

 

Seriously, what I think is the big deal about Leica are its M lenses.

Their bodies are very good, but you can still slap a Leica lens on

other bodies and get the same high-quality (at least optical

quality) results. They ain't the ultimate, but they sho are pretty

dang good. Yup, in the same class as the Hexar AF lens and maybe even

the now (in)famous Yashica ELECTROfying GN or whatever they shoot up north of the US-Canadian border when they take their sticks off the ice.

[zeos_386sx]

So, What's the big deal with Leica?<br>

<br>

I love the answer to this question that is posted on the <a href="http://www.leica-camera.com/kultur/mythos/index_e.html" target="_blank">Leica website</a>

under the heading "Leica Mythology". I wonder if this was written by those precise Leica engineers or by someone at Hermes...<br>

<br>

"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 person?s way of taking pictures, it will even determine it."<br>

<br>

Gee...that just gives me chills all over!

[bill_thorlin]

Love the use of the word "fabricated" - seems almost Freudian.

[SCL]

Well, you certainly got a lot of responses to your questions. I'll add one more. A Leica isn't for everybody...you can get more technologically satisifying cameras for much less, equivalent lenses for less. However, many Leica users respect the workmanship and technological superiority of the product lines from times when there weren't good comparables. The Leicas of yore are superbly machined workhorses, which force you to think in order to achieve good results. They have stood the test of time and continue to be valued. To me, that is what it is about. Try it, you may become hooked.

[monte_johnson]

Ryan, I do not own A Leica, but plan to someday. So I have no experience on

what draws their attension. My personal thought here is it must be an

individual thing for the ones who own or desire to own one. I have used

Minolta,Contax and Fuji medium format, but I know a Leica is for me. They are

exspensive, have their designed purpose with some limits. Their lens are

exspensive and they are not as easy to load as SLR cameras, but I still want

one even inspite of all of that. Why! Here it is for me. It is not because of any

reason except I know it will give me the chance and inspiration to be the best I

can be. Not because it is a Leica, because it is a photographers camera. It is a

tool to be used by the soul of the person behind it.