steve_hotchkiss

I think that you are doing about all that you can do. Once anyone lets out your email it just goes everywhere. Many of those notifications that you have gotten claiming that you are sending a virus are probably just fake emails to get you to respond. What you do not want to do is to respond. Once you respond to a spam they can sell your email as confirmed by the fact that you answered. This is why so many tell you to respond using a certain line, that they provide, to be removed from their mailing list. They are actually doing the opposite. Once they get that response they can sell your name for a premium.

 

I tell people to delete anything you don't recognize or expect and just put up with it. Someday filters or whatever may help but for now it is a cost of doing the internet.

Just a thought. I like some of the ones I have seen for arca that also provide a hole for a tripod mount centered in line with t he lens. Like in the bottom of the M Grip. I occasionally use my camera on a panorama rig that works well when the camera tripod mount is inline with the lens not way off to the side.

The company can take 17 years or whatever to go from the M6 to the M7. They so carefully control their design by their philosophy as a company. The digital world is a whole different beast. If you take over 6 months to come out with a new improved model you are selling a dinosaur.

 

That must be very difficult for a company like Leica. I do not say this to be patronizing. I believe that the reason this forum exists and Leica fans exist, and are so fervent in their brand loyalty, is the underlying philosophy of Leica.

 

Leica has always dabbled in the P & S worls. They have done fine there and I imagin that dabbling in the Digital P & S world will be OK for them as well.

 

That said, I believe that they must find a way to integrate digital with their current professional products much as they did aperture priority in their 50 year old M camera line. They just can't take another 50 years to do it. We all have too much much of ourselves and our money tied up in these lenses to lose the use of them. Even if my bodies become less useable, which I hope they won't, I should always be able to have use of my lenses.

 

Contax took a very long time to come out with the N1. I would imagine that when they projected their costs and they figured that the Nikon and Canon digitals were still 4,000 or more so they could go 5 or 6 grand on theirs. When they finally put it on the shelves Nikon and Canon release their nearly equal 6 MP $2,000 bodies.

 

Just a thought and a little rant.

Photography as art or photography as journalism. I know we probably want to be artists so this is probably moot. I have often thought that I enjoy alot of street photography as a journal of life. When I try to view it as art I often find it a difficult.

 

I do not know what HCB considered himself; a photographer, an artist, a journalist. I have only looked through a few of his books and BN or wherever. I have never read a biography.

 

I think that the best of art stands the test of time and is not so dependent on it. The statue of David could have been done last year and it would be awe inspiring. Then again, do I like the pyramids of Egypt or the one in Vegas.

 

A few of AA's best photos, for my taste, came in the moment. One of his many contributions was that he was always ready for the moment in nature. He just usually did it with a camera that you can't hide under your jacket.

As I am a novice I found your question very interesting. I hope I won't offend you by expanding it a little though. I see your mention of b&w film. I have noticed that the pro shops around here keep the color films in the cold while not keeping the b&w films cooled. Does cooling the b&w film help or just color?

The film was Fuji Superia Reala 100. I used that alot in my medium format shooting. I scanned the negative at 1600dpi through the film attachment on a Epson 1640SU. Then I used Photoshop to convert to 72 dpi which really does not change the resolution at all. Resized don to the image you see and saved.

Well I do not know exactly why I am posting this (if the pic showed

up). I guess I am just excited at how nice, even if kindof common,

my first role of film came out. The attached photo was taken

handheld (I could get used to this) at 1/24th or so the M7 said. I

see that I still have to get used to checking the alignment of the

fames with the real world. I guess I was tilting the camera but did

not enven notcie it. I just shot straight allowing the M7 to pick

the speed andthe meter just worked great.

 

If you see anything or just want to pipe in please do.<div></div>

I have been watching these discusions for a while. It seem like

there is one use for Leica M's, "street Photography". I have been

wondering why I see so little talk of "nature" "scenics" "panorama's

(one of the things I want to try)" "architecture" "animals" and so

on. Is this because the M is just so much better at street

photography than anything else or is the rangefinder system

inherently not as good at some of these other areas?

 

I am not really trying to venture into the larger formats so I am

thinking in the 35mm only realm. I am quite certain that a Linhof 6

x 17 would be great for scenics but I am not sure I would like as

much at family Christmas events as an M7. Please let me know what

kind of shooting some of you do and what you feel the M did well

with and were you had a negative experiance, if you like.

Buy a camera you are going to use. If it is too big, heavy, noisy, difficult to use or whatever, the size of the negative won't help. You have got to have a camera that will draw you away from the forums. If interchangeable backs will give you more fun go MF. If zooms are your thing then 35mm will probably be best. If you love 007 go Minox. Your best pictures will come from you having a good time shooting not the photolab. Every picture I have taken that I loved I was able to enlarge within reason to whatever I wanted from any film I used. By the way, I like you choice.

As a newbie to Leica I have heard a lot of talk about not using a tripod. I am wondering if this supports (sorry for the pun) the usefulness of a tripod.

The plastic cover on the bottom of a new M7. Should it be left

there or should it be removed? Can it be removed? I feel like I am

tearing one of those tags off a mattress. You know, like I am

breaking a law or something. Just looking for advice I guess

This may be so obvious that I feel pretty naive. I am going to ask

anyway since I do not want to hurt anything. I have just bought my

first Leica and it is an M7. Do I have to have the aperture set

directly in one of the notches or can it be anywhere in between? Are

there any linkages or anything that could be damaged by not having

it in a notch? I read somewhere that you should not leave the

shutter speed dial, on the older M's, in between speeds.

If you love taking pictures with a thoroughly fun Leica, I would definitely buy one (well I did). If you prefer postulating about it then wait as this will probably lead to many good years of that activity. How many years did M6 owners wait for TTL? Could be a long wait. I am still looking for a 50mm Aspherical.