john_graham3

"Not the ideal thing for a Fondler to put on his or her brand new MP unless they just intend to put it on the table next to a "Do Not Touch" sign where their friends can admire it and say "Ooh! Gorgeous!"" </p>

 

And yet another of your endless posts that are simply a pretext to once more expel your ad nauseam rant against people who have enough money to buy a new Leica and enough self-esteem to take pride in its ownership.

Hey whatever, if you think because your camera hasn't broken so far that means it can't, and that because you've never dropped a camera so far that means you can't, then by all means don't bother with a backup body. No skin off my nose.

Not true of Leica. All you need is to stay within the cocoon of a Leica forum, where you'll find a chorus of like-minded individuals to support the parallel reality where Leica is always superior to everything else, and decry the rest of the world as made up of the blind, the ignorant and the undiscerning :*)

Just curious but did Matt say someplace that the shot was taken in Africa or are you just speculating based on the subject's race?

 

Matt, if that shot had been taken in the 1940's, in much of America black folk wouldn't have been sitting that far foward in the bus :*(

M7 has 1970-style AE, MP doesn't. Otherwise they are for all intents and purposes the same camera.

All that these shots prove is that Stuart is a fine photographer and in his hands a DMR is awesome.

"I've never found my canon files requiring "work." Can you expand upon your personal experience with canon files being work?"

 

I'd be interested in that too, since I use the 1DS-II and 5D for catalog shots of everything inlcuding jewelry, designer clothing, paintings, automobiles and real estate (to name just a small sample of the kinds of things that are brokered in major liquidations)where portraying colors as naturally as possible is an issue, and if I have to do any post work on color it's usually because I was lazy and left in in AWB under some weird combo of mixed lighting. Then again after reading Peter's articulate and erudite reponse ("blaaaaaahh phtewey.") I'm more confident my results are the rule rather than the exception :*)

""Leica à la mode" cameras feature active noise cancellation shutters"

 

Aw hell, I was hoping for a dollop of Ben&Jerry's rum raisin :*)

If you can get to an internet cafe you could try to win one on eBay. After all we've all been lectured on how dumb it is to buy from a dealer :*)

One of the many reasons those of us who're used to dealing with legitimate auction houses have utter contempt for eBay.

I'll bow to your experience and expertise on the last two points :*)

The Canon 5D has 12mp and full-frame and costs $2500 after the current rebate. And it has a metal body. I doubt that anyone who buys an M8 one will think of it as obsolete until Leica makes an M9 which might not be for many years if ever, given that if current technology was the standard, it's already obsolete.

"I don't see backup as a big need for me. I am an amatuer and not a person who only gets his food money if the job gets done."

 

Ever go on a vacation?

"What's your problem, John? Insecurity because your wife will throw you out" </p>

 

Well Al, when it comes to failed marriages I definitely must bow to your experience and authority :*)

Send any Leica lens that's not focusing right to Sherry, Jon or DAG and it'll come back perfect. No fancy talk and braggioso, just done right. Odd in all the forums and publications I've never seen your name mentioned among the list of qualified Leica repairmen.

Oh puh-leeze. $40 for the most expensive B+W or Heliopan multi-multi-coated Schott optical-glass filter in a brass ring, brand new vs $5 for a used generic piece of uncoated or single coated glass in an aluminum ring. $35 guys. On a Leica lens, which from the get-go you're already willing to pay many times over more than a Nikon or Canon for a slight edge in performance. Of course to be fair $35 is a significant sum for someone living from one social security check to the next :*)

Yeah but my GF made all those shots in JPEG's. To be truthful I do most of my business catalog shots in JPEG's too, hence the habit of checking the LCD for WB. I don't even shoot at the higest resolution for the most part unless its of something someone might want to zoom in on.

"if only as backups for the M8."

 

Possible, but more likely an Epson RD1 or even a higher-end compact digital. To use a film body as a backup would mean hauling along enough film to fulfill all your needs if the M8 croaks. It'd be awfully stupid to go to the trouble of carrying a backup film body only to scurry around trying to find your favorite film far from home.

"there will come a time when the image from a film camera will seem unique and different - with grain, and fine tonality in B&W. We may just have to wait 15 years or so for the pendulum to swing back."

 

Sure, why not? If that happens, film production could always be resumed :*)

Hmmmm, somehow I'm a little bit skeptical about Panasonic suddenly making a cam with decent quality at ISO 1600, when the previous generation was queasy at 200 and blew chunks at 400 :*) (Yeah, yeah, you could shoot RAW and use Noise Ninja. Just what people who buy a P&S want to do).

"Can you explain how to get the correct white balance for flourescent lighting if you accidently took your RAW digital photo with white balance set to incandescant?"

 

I have shot with the WB set wrong but fortunately I saw it on the LCD and just reset the WB and retook the shot. All of what I shoot digitally is inanimate and there's never a problem taking another shot or however many I need. My GF did shoot a passle of pix of her baby niece with WB set to incandescent but the room was lit only by mid-day light coming through the windows, and it took me quite a bit of messing with the sliders in PS to approach decent color balance. Surely the more experience you get the easier it becomes but someone I know whose very knowledgable in PS told me it has its limits too.

"Now Digital John is REALLY all steamed up and he still didn't answer the question. I guess he doesn't know the answer." </p>

 

LMAO. Here's the answer so even a senile burnout could understand. It's an <i>obsolete</i> blue filter, made to color balance daylight film to <i>obsolete</i> clear flashbulbs. <i>Obsolete</i>, like you, Film Al :*)

"Will prices of Leica M bodies and Summicron lenses ever come down?"

 

Yes, prices of M bodies will tumble when the M8 is available. It's also possible that prices of the 50mm lenses will also drop if people don't warm to the "new" cropped angle of view. I'm sorry for your health situation, and I don't know what your financial situation is. You won't get much if anything for the F4s. But if I were in your shoes and an M6TTL and 50 Summicron would make me happy I'd put in on the plastic. If I got better I'd be happy to pay it off, and if not, well, let them try and collect. Of course it's impossible to really say what I'd actually do if faced with it, but I hope I'd handle it as well as you are.

"Back in the 1960's ... It runs in cycles"

 

The only thing running in cycles (and recycles)are these trips with Mr. Peabody and Sherman in the Wayback Machine, which would be cool (once in a while) if not for the preposterous conclusions. There is absolutely no intelligent parallel can be drawn between the falling out of vogue of rangefinders in the sixties, with the current exodus to digital and the collapse of the market for film cameras.

"Now, what's an 80-C filter?"

 

Something someone would need if they insist on shooting film and a) can't remember or be bothered to carry that which is color balanced for the light they're planning on shooting in, and/or b)they have no clue how to adjust color balance in Photoshop. Shooting digital if the AWB can't nail it with or without a tweak in PS then most if not all dslr's have a provision for setting color temp if you have a color meter, or if not, shooting a white card and setting a custom white balance. Oh yeah, I suppose you could also use an 80C to make your brother-in-law look like he's a member of Blue Man Group :*)