joseph_barbano

I panicked!

Learning Curve!<div></div>

In 2000, visited Turkey. School Girls in Istanbul celebrating early

dismissal. R7 w/ 35-70 on K64.

Redux<div></div>

After the day visitors leave Machu Picchu, the ruins are deserted.

Here's a sunset picture. R7 w/ 28mm on K64<div></div>

The Ricoleta.

I took this photo in Buenos Aires in 1991 at a sidewalk fashion

show. On viewing the photo, I had no difficulty on where my eyes

were drawn to. R4S and 75-200mm Lens K64 w/flash.<div></div>

Had an F4 for a while. Much more capable than the SL (wjich I also own). The F4 was pretty heavy (and somewhat large) as I remember. Nikon optics were fine. You can purchase a really decent spread of used AF lenses rather cheaply as many are dumping their early AF lenses for "digital" lenses; especially the primes and high end, early zoom likes the 20-35mm/2.8.

Screwed it up.

Here's a B&W version.

Thanks.

Two women enjoying the the late afternoon as they sit around the

plaza in a small town on the Yucatan Peninsula.

In addtion to Miniliux:

-Gold 200 (also extra batteries)

-Buy Olympus Stylus (~$65)

-Get your shots

-Bring Meds

-Watch what you eat/drink

Last night I went to Adorama to check out a 21-35mm zoom. They had a special "transaction price" that was e-mailed for the lens which cost $2479.95. Today the website lists the purchase price ("transaction price no longer available") for that lens as $2895.00. Similar thing with B&H but they raised their prices sometime this week.

Those Mother f#%$%^$&*!!

Good camera. Had one for about 4 years. Sold it for $$ toward an R7. Any R preceding the R8/9's are not in the same class as them. If you have the $$, buy the R8. R9's are still too expensive.

Mine is S/N 3003XXX and I decided to seal it myself as I had read on perhaps this and other Leica forums that it was not sealed from the factory. Prior to this I was not able to slide any paper behind the eyepiece ring.

 

When I removed the eyepiece ring (with the three little srews), the ring was "stuck" tp the body with what appeared to be lacquer or some other clear sealant similar to clear nail polish. Anyway, at that point I had to reseal and I used a little silicone as I did not want to send it to Leica.

 

So bottomline, I think it probably was sealed. So to test it yourself, I would remove the rubber eyepiece and then the three screws holding the ring in place (BUT, do not remove the ring). If the ring is "stuck" to the body, it's probably sealed. On my earlier MP (which was not sealed), my recollection was that when I removed the three screws holding the ring in place, the ring just came off as there was no sealant holding the ring to the body.

I'm not talking about professionals here; different business model. A 15% difference in equipment pricing is not going to disway a capital expenditure for most "successful" businesses especially when the expense is passed on to their customers anyway. More importantly, a 15% increase would not justify a major change in equipment manufacturer selection unless there are other issues.

 

For amatuers, the marginal elasticity for the demand of Leicas as a luxury good is probably pretty unresponsive for new equipment since it's already expensive; what's an additional 15% if you're going to buy it anyway (or not going to buy it)other than "salt in the wound".

 

In the main, there are two types of Leica buyers: those who almost never (or never) buy anything new, and those who buy a mix new and used. The former are irrelavant in the pricing argument since they never spend new; these spenders are of no matter to Leica since they do not affect revenues, but they seem to complain about pricing as if they might buy. Then there are the others who buy used and new. These buyers might be driven to look for used equipment with a pricing increase, but if they were going to buy new, the impending price increase might cause them to buy early (or not at all).

 

The point is, the price increase is never going to affect many since they have on real intention ever of buying new, and seem to believe that Leica is stupid and not sensitive to passing the costs on. For those who might buy new, the game just got a little more expensive.

Given that a Canon 1DMkII costs $3500 and a Nikon D2X cost $5000, a new Leica M is a pretty good deal. At least it won't be superceded and almost obsolete in 2 years.

 

Besides, if you don't want to buy new Leica gear then don't. But, stop b*tching about what Leica should and should not do especially since you (I suspect), and many others (I know) on this forum buy used gear primarily and buy very little new Leica gear.

All photogrpahy is statistical. The "decisive moment" vitiates the

statistical approach in making everything come together at the right

instant: exposure, composition, subject.

 

Leicas do not lend themslves well to statistical photography, such

as sports, where a large number of exposures and focusing

adjustments are required very rapidly with a subject is also

changing very rapidly. The manual technology of Leicas just makes

it hard. I really appreciated sports photographers a few years ago

who were able to nail it when they were using fairly manual

equipment. Basically, being selective was important.

 

Enter digital: almost unlimited exposures (no film), autofocus,

motordives, affordable telephot optics, etc. Not much need to be AS

selective since it's technology driven. Just aim and shoot: keep

the trigger down. When I see a really good photo from digital now I

say "statistical photography". I read of photographers who shoot

hundreds and hundreds of photos in a seting where a few years ago

when using film, an order of magnitude less exposures were taken.

It's great sampling, but the pictures don't seem to be any better

than before; just more of them.

 

Even for we Leica photographers, there's no doubt that a DSLR for

sports or action is the way to go. In the purest sense, this is

statistical photography. Get within close range, or where autofocus

isn't a must, or where being selective matters then there's another

type of photography; this is where Leicas excel.

Last week, my friend who owns a camera store let me try out a D2X with three high end zooms. It's an impressive piece of electronics. The images weren't better than my Leicas; on the contrary. However, the experience was diffferent. Just saving files...

Whenever I push the shutter on any of my digital cameras, all I feel

is "I'm saving a file". Not taking a photo at all.

 

Whenever I read a current photo magazine, all I see is how to save a

lousy photo using PS, fix a terrible exposure, use a new filter.

Almost nothing about nailing the exposure, getting the composition,

using dynamic range. In fact most of the pictures are now a genre

that is driven by technology and not talent.

 

Whenever, I read this forum and digital comes up, all I see is

complaining about Leica and how great Canon and Nikon are and how

little difeerence there is between Leicas and every other camera.

That's ridiculous.

 

Leica has some serious difficulties and who knows how they will pull

through. All I know is that having owned Nikons, Canon, and Leicas,

there's no comparison in picture quality. Leica essentially created

photography and the standards by which mouch of photography is

judged.

 

I recently visited Mexico and took my R8s. I could have taken my

digital stuff. The pics would have been easier; but they wouldn't

have been better.

BTW, I am referring to the front compartment on the J-803.

I just tried my 13" wide (Not screen diagonal) Compaq laptop and it was about an inch too wide to fit in the compartment. So, if your computer's wider than about 12", it'll be a tough fit, I think. Good luck.

While trying to view some photos from my son's D-560, I popped the

256MB XD card into the XD-slot of my computer and the computer

responded "The disk is not formatted. Would you like to format the

disk?". I did NOT format the disk but popped it back into the

camera and was unable to read the pictures. In fact, the camera

menu prompted me to "Format now" or "Power Off". I then installed

CAMEDIA 4.1 to try and read the photos via the camera/USB connection

and the S/W did not recognize the camera.

 

I think the card may be corrupted. Not sure. Is there some way of

rescuing the photos? Thanks in advance.

Contact Dave Elwell (Leica USA)to get the current number for Chuck Hessinger of Hessinger Audio Visual. He specializes in Pradovit repairs especially older Pradovits and might be of help. He moved last year and the number I have for him is no longer any good. Elwell used to refer him to people in need of Pradovit "help". Good luck.