boris_ochan

"Getting personal, are we"

Only in as much as you're the guy who "personally" disparages a really good lens (which by

your own admission you have no experience of) over and

over again, paying absolutely no attention to the positive words of actual users. Why are

the views of photographers of less importance to you than those of lens testers? All

modern lenses, bar a few dirt cheap zooms, are good enough. They might not be good

enough for a strange guy with a resolution chart, but they're good enough to make

compelling images.

Mike the 28mm f1.8 is good enough for you and me (though since moving to cameras

with a 1.6x sensor I've started using the 24 1.4), and, for what it's worth, Jim Nachtwey

and Gilles Peress. It's not good enough for Yakim - he's so disconcerted by this particular

lens that he now attacks it in duplicate. Nothing can be said that will

reassure him that it's a usable lens, but other people can draw their own conclusions.

Trevor, a few months back I stopped off in HK to buy a big stack of Sandisk CF cards from

a dealer called Tin Cheung and saw they were selling the Rolleiflex for (I think) around

15000 HKDollars (currently around a thousand pounds). It caught my eye because I hadn't

actually realised that they were in production; they also had the wide-angle version but I

don't recall the price. Some cameras (like Canon) in HK are no cheaper than in the US but

others (like Leicas and the Rolleiflex) have very low prices. You could try emailing Jennifer

(speaks good English and is very straightforward) at Tin Cheung (go to

www.tincheungcamera.com.hk).

Trevor, regarding the GBP2200 price tag - you can a get a new Rolleiflex in Hong Kong for

literally half that price (possibly not much more than GBP1000).

Sorry Vuk, English is my sixth language after Gaelic, Russian, Cantonese, Mandarin and

(imperfect, but improving) Idiot. Anyway, your name certainly rhymes with the word in

question for anybody residing in certain parts of England.

"through the roof of the mouth is definitely way to go"

We're all anatomically different, for a significant minority between the buttocks is the way

to go......

Probably the biggest irony is that most of the people here who are open to the positive

qualities of digital are also the people who I'd put my money on to be able to use a Leica

and Tri-x meaningfully, and, for that matter, go into a wet darkroom and knock out a

beautifully balanced fiber based print. I doubt that there's a single member of the lens cap

and bokeh brigade who's a truly competent photographer (using any medium). Leicas are

nice cameras, but let's be honest the glory days for Leica are well and truly over. Maybe

this forum is coming to the end of its useful days just like the company that inspired

it.

"When Grant asks, in his ever so polite manner, for someone to fornicate with his

mother......."

In fairness to grant's mother I'd like to point out that she's a mighty fine looking woman.

Don't worry Ricky it's not the number of the beast that's suddenly appeared in your

viewfinder. The number (or a number) is always there to indicate the minimum number of

frames the buffer can handle in a burst (dependant on quality setting) - rattle off a few

frames and you'll see the number temporarily go down. The lens is either broken or (much

more likely), in the cold, you've fumbled with your gloves and knocked it off AF.......

"Herr Kapitan"

Y'know Erin, I'm getting really sick of you and the other haters taking your cheap pops at

Al. Since the overdue departure of Grant things have been really great round here. Why do

you want to drag us back into the gutter?

"Leicas....the price of new ones is way beyond the reach of most younger photographers.

We need a way to allow these people to join us that fits their budget!"

Al, I see where you're coming from but I can't agree. If younger photographers just cut

down on the drink, drugs, and fast living then they could easily find the deposit for an a la

carte

MP. Let's keep it clean round here, let's keep it Leica.......

The bottom line is that Canon glass sucks. You just can't make pleasing images with it,

whether with film or digital. It's no surprise that the greatest reportage photographers -

people like Peress, Pinkhassov, Nachtwey - won't use anything but Leica. It's expensive but

worth it.

"What's a facist?"

I think it's a reference to that guy who put Al's face on the t-shirts.

Paul, do you know of any good agents? The reality is that they want a finished, properly

edited product and their 50 to 60 per cent cut for no more than making a few calls/

sending a few emails. Go for it anyway Alex, but don't expect any

help from an agent.

I'm not sure why anybody loses sleep over "evaluating" marginal differences in sharpness.

The reality is that pretty much all modern lenses give way more sharpness than is needed

to make meaningful photographs. Rather than waste any more time with test charts and

brick walls why not just see if the lens will make pleasing images? It does for plenty of

other

people.

"what's not to understand?"

Errr, why you feel so strongly that they're only dealer in HK you wouldn't use? I'm

genuinely curious as to why they apparently have a bad reputation - I don't speak

Cantonese so I can't cruise the local forums you mention.

"it grows....."

I'd call Mulder and Scully rather than Canon in this particular case.......

RJ, why have you quoted from the Luminous Landscape review in a such a deliberatedly

misleading manner? It just seems really strange to set out to misinform. Here's the actual

quote:

"The only real clunker in terms of performance is the 24mm f1.4L - and then only in the

corners and when used wide open at f1.4. No big surprise here."

He's actually saying the reverse of what you imply. If you want your fast wides to perform

faultlessly wide open "exactly like is done with fast telephoto lenses" then you're going to

continue to be disappointed - whether you use Canon, Nikon or Leica......

Simon, I'm still not sure what exactly it is you don't like about Tin Cheung. Where does it's

"bad reputation" come from? I'm a repeat customer because I get better service and prices

from them than anywhere else I've tried in HK. I'd encourage people to try them, plus the

other dealers mentioned, and reach their own conclusions.

RJ, there really isn't a "plethora of camera choices" for a press photographer. I've no idea

where you live, but wherever I've been (N.America, Europe, Asia) the 1d/1dll is the

commonest choice of camera - to state that non-sports photographers are "NOT buying"

them is demonstrably absurd (as is the concept of a 24mm lens that is only sharp with

slow film and a tripod).

Simon, Tin Cheung obviously polarises opinions as you know from previous threads where

you've expressed reservations about them. As to most photographers not using them, I

guess we know different photographers in Hong Kong. A lot of working photographers in

HK favor

them

above anywhere else because of the sheer range that they have in stock. However, I'll

accept

that they

probably aren't the dealer of choice if you want to be pampered while running through the

options for your a la carte MP.