I think the guys at the camera store were making fun of me today

[shyoon]

In the case of Leica's digital point-n-shoots, you are basically paying for the name. They're made by panasonic and are basically the same camera Panasonic sells under their name for half the price.

Granted, the Leica point and shoots do include a copy of Lightroom 3, which is worth a couple of hundred dollars.

 

[andredossantos]

Somewhere I read or heard a nasty quip to use in a case like that: "I have this because there's a reason why I am the customer and you are the clerk."

Saying this, however, simply perpetuates the Leica as the elitist, rich a-hole guy's camera. In fact these days one doesn't need to be rich to get a beater film Leica and a Voigtlander for example.

Wow, thinking about it more, I would even go so far as to say that making the above comment would be way more douche-y than the original one from the salesman. There are much more subtle ways of making your poing just as strongly without making yourself look bad.

 

[Pirate]

HDR- High Dynamic Range. It's photography, just on a different level. It's done with computer software now, but I know a German Master Photographer that was doing it with film shots many years before digital. It's just bracketed shots placed on top of each other to bring out the shadowed areas and increased colour and contrast. There are some really nice HDR shots out there.... and some really bad ones.

 

[zumbido]

Granted, the Leica point and shoots do include a copy of Lightroom 3, which is worth a couple of hundred dollars.

Well, it retails for a couple of hundred dollars. Its worth depends on the person, for me it's worth less than a cardboard box to throw my negatives in and a moldy deer head to hang on the wall.

 

[anitasanger]

Hjortsberg - Sorry you had to deal with morons. Perhaps you should have reminded them that freestylephoto has better prices - and you don't get laughed at after making a purchase. They were probably just jealous. There is no excuse for rudeness.

 

[Pirate]

Somewhere I read or heard a nasty quip to use in a case like that: "I have this because there's a reason why I am the customer and you are the clerk."

If a clerk were snotty enough to me, I could say that to him. I'd have to be pushed that far before I said it, but yeah, I'm an a-hole like that sometimes.

 

[GSNfan]

Carrying a Leica around the neck has unfortunately become a stereotype.

 

[hteasley]

Carrying a Leica around the neck has unfortunately become a stereotype.

Really? I've never seen that. Of course, I've never encountered anyone else shooting a Leica, in any context.

When I've been out shooting, I've encountered several folks who just thought my camera was interesting (always when I have an external viewfinder mounted), a lot of folks who had never heard of camera makers not named Canon, Nikon, or Kodak, and maybe three folks who recognized what I was shooting. They wanted to talk cameras with me.

 

[taskoni]

While that's funny, I would never say something like that. It just brings you down to the level of the ignorant salesperson.

You don't have to say it, you can just think of it 😀

The dude I trade my old canon 30D for leca R7 with elmar 24mm/2.8 and 2 motor winders was laughing too... even he bought later my 7D (also on a high price)

Sometimes is good to be the "stupid" one 😀

 

[LKeithR]

If a clerk were snotty enough to me, I could say that to him. I'd have to be pushed that far before I said it, but yeah, I'm an a-hole like that sometimes.

Yeah, I could probably be goaded into responding in a nasty way but I think a more appropriate--and possibly more rewarding--approach would be to ask to talk to the manager and/or owner and explain what just happened. Brick and mortar stores are having a tough enough time of it without having bad employees chasing off potential customers...

 

[Mudman]

I told a friend that I had picked up a 35mm lens for my leica. He told me I must be spending money hand over foot. I don't think people realize there are decent buys out there on the used market.

 

[Hjortsberg]

Carrying a Leica around the neck has unfortunately become a stereotype.

we're far enough along in history where everything is a stereotype.

but The Leica as Teacher thing I read said I had to take it with me everywhere for one year, and use it. I decided to take the advice of the article, so I take it everywhere.

the thing at the camera store today, It really wasn't a big deal.

 

[zumbido]

I told a friend that I had picked up a 35mm lens for my leica. He told me I must be spending money hand over foot. I don't think people realize there are decent buys out there on the used market.

There are also a lot of people who don't realize that for the majority of the population, even in a rich country like the U.S., $300 for a camera lens (much less $1000 or $2000 or more) is not at all affordable, and it is fair to question the marginal utility of that lens for family snapshots.

it's increasingly true on this forum over time.

 

[julescasablancas]

Some people will never get it. They probably also love HDR.

LOL!
😎

 

[jan normandale]

... I wouldn't listen to them. Why people buy expensive or cheap cameras is irrelevant. That the sales staff measure photography by dollars is a game for reverse snobs and accountants not photographers. I doubt many famous photographers who have used "name" equipment would pay attention to much more than does the camera do the job no matter what the price point.

For what it's worth, I'm more interested in your subesequent comment that you went back and re shot some work you wanted to do in another way. Put some of the new images in this thread. That's what I'm interested in.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

There are also a lot of people who don't realize that for the majority of the population, even in a rich country like the U.S., $300 for a camera lens (much less $1000 or $2000 or more) is not at all affordable, and it is fair to question the marginal utility of that lens for family snapshots.

it's increasingly true on this forum over time.

Very true. Its hard to get a 35mm lens for a Leica cheap. The ZM C-Biogon at $800 is the cheapest new one, and they go for $700 or so used. Old ones like the Summarons are usually in bad condition, with scratches and haze if they're less than that.

The US government says that 46% of American workers earn so little that they're exempt from paying income tax (the very poor do not have to pay. The poor do pay some, you have to be quite poor to be exempt from tax!). Half of workers make less than $16,000.

Someone with a so-called middle class income is actually statistically rich. Someone making $50,000 a year, which is not a lot but enough to be middle class, is in the top 20% of earners. To me that is not 'middle class', that's rich. They only seem non-rich because the very rich are so much wealthier than the so-called middle class.

 

[semilog]

Deciding to own a Leica is a very personal thing and if you looked at the situation in an abjective manner you'd have to admit to yourself that your camera and lens combination worth around a grand doesn't really do anything that a one hundred dollar OM-1 with 50mm lens can't do.

Abjective manner. I dig that, even if it is a typo.

 

[Pirate]

I'm looking forward to some of those images too!

 

[semilog]

The US government says that 46% of American workers earn so little that they're exempt from paying income tax (the very poor do not have to pay. The poor do pay some, you have to be quite poor to be exempt from tax!).

Note further that "does not have to pay federal income tax" is a far cry from "does not have to pay tax."

 

[rxmd]

Very true. Its hard to get a 35mm lens for a Leica cheap. The ZM C-Biogon at $800 is the cheapest new one, and they go for $700 or so used.

Actually it's fairly easy to get a 35mm for a Leica cheap:

CV Color-Skopar 35/f2.5 Pancake - $379 new
CV Nokton 35/f1.4 - $579 new

Did you miss those accidentally? Admittedly they're some thirty to fifty percent more than you'd pay for a 35/2 or equivalent from Canon or Nikon, so being a rangefinder user is still an expensive hobby, but it's still less than half of what you quoted.