Dear Chris,
There is a vast gulf between "I don't understand why..." and "It is amazing that..."
I do not understand why anyone would pay money to watch a football match (or baseball or anything else), but the key is that it gives them pleasure. I don't have to understand it, and I wouldn't understand the answer if they tried to explain. Read on and see if you understand what I say. (To borrow your own disclaimer, I'm not trying to be offensive.)
When it comes to press photography, well, there are plenty of other kinds of photography too. Advertising (which is where I started). Travel. Architecture. Food. That's before you even consider 'fine art'. And there's a useful distinction, I believe, between press photography and photojournalism (also known as reportage).
For what I do - not just writing about photography, but also illustrating books and magazine articles on a range of subjects as wide as the American Civil War, the Tibetan cause, and travel by motorcycle and Land Rover - Leicas are perfect: small, light, easy to use, reliable and delivering excellent quality. I'd be totally crazy to spend the same money on bloody great heavy DSLRs. For food photography, it's true that the M9+Viso+65 is right on the edge compared with the 6x7cm and 4x5 inch tranny that the clients used to insist on, but it's still more than good enough, and I come back to the point that it's what I like using.
As for what is 'acceptable for a $10,000 lens', it's meaningless question. Why does anyone buy noisy, cramped, thirsty, unreliable Ferraris? Or ride oily vintage motorcycles instead of nice, clean, reliable new Hondas?
Finally, yes, there are plenty of rotten pictures of cats, back porches, coffee mugs and worse, taken with $10,000 camera-and-lens combinations. What of it? It takes me several years to wear out a $500 pair of walking boots, though they'd probably only last a serious walker a season or two. So? Should I buy only $100 boots? Or $50 boots? The parallel is exact: the boots are comfortable and do what I want.
Postscript: Yes, I've got a good weekend planned. Tomorrow is the vide-grenier, a sort of village wide garage sale, then on Sunday there's a motorcycle event up near Saumur. I plan to take my M9 to both.
Cheers,
R.
