Re: [Leica] Oh ... It's COMING SOON! :-)

[Peter Klein <pklein@2alpha.net>]

         At 10:17 AM 5/26/03 -0700j Gary Williams wrote, re. the rush to 
digital:
> > Am I missing something here or has the world gone completely mad?

Gary:  The needs of a pro like Tina are very different from the the needs 
of a high-end consumer who things he needs more modes and megapixels each 
year in order to feel secure in life.

If I depended on photography for my living, I would have bought a pro 
digital SLR a couple of years ago.  I'd only use the Leica for available 
light B&W and personal stuff.  Not because I wanted to, but because I had to.

Editors want it NOW.  A while back, a critical mass of them decided that a 
drop in image quality (sometimes big, sometimes not noticeable due to 
reproduction methods) was less important than the speed and economy of the 
results.  And that was basically that.  Three years ago, a friend was 
interviewed to be a stringer for one of the wire services.  They wouldn't 
even consider her unless she agreed to buy a digital camera.

I usually don't get paid for photography. So I have the luxury of choosing 
my camera based on how it and its images make me feel.  So I can afford to 
wait for Moore's law to really hit the high-end digital camera 
market.  Right now it hasn't.  So I do most of my shooting with the 
Leica.  I also picked up somebody's discarded Nikon Coolpix 990 on "the 
auction site," essentially as a learning tool.  It allows me to play with 
the processes and do some really fun macro work in the bargain.

Right now, digital cameras are either big and heavy, or they are 
point-and-shoots.  I really would like the convenience, quick control and 
ergonomics of a Leica or a classic small SLR in a pro-level digicam.  I'd 
even wear a belt pack that had all the heavy stuff in it, and use a camera 
connected to it by a cable or an RF/IR link if that was the only practical 
way to do it.  But so far we are getting big heavy tanks with lots of bells 
and whistles conspicuously displayed.  I'd like a tool that adapts to me, 
ergonomically speaking.  I don't want to have to adapt my working methods 
to the needs of marketeers peddling this year's must-have megapixels to 
insecure gadget freaks.

But I can indulge these wants only because I'm not a pro, my editor is me, 
and I'm willing to wait for myself to scan the film.  Still, every so often 
I glance between my watch and the scanner and think, "If only I could get 
everything I can get with film, but without the film."  When the technology 
catches up with what I want at a price I can afford, I'll probably go 
digital, too.  Given that I love available light B&W, rangefinder focusing, 
the feel of a Leica and the quality of Leica optics, I suspect the Leica 
isn't going away soon.

- --Peter Klein
Seattle

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