Leica LTM New Yorker Article

Leica M39 screw mount bodies/lenses
Apologies for the repetition; but I have just noticed that this was posted on the M Site yesterday.
Tho it does show my priorities - screws before bayonets.
Fascinating piece notwithstanding.
 
I thoroughly enjoyed every page of the New Yorker article on Leica LTM and M cameras...along with those who used them, use them and love the Leica. Lee Friedlander who died a year or so ago, was one of my favorites. In mid-sentence, dining with a friend, Cartier-Bresson could stand up, turn and shoot. Andre Kertez did some wonderful work in New York. The info on the Wetzlar and Solms, German towns was also interesting.

Let me share this, for those who may not know. The Leitz family quietly did their share in saving some German Jews. Employees were sent on business trips to New York [never to return], and each was given a new Leica.

Calling Leica a "cult" in 2007, does not bother me one bit. Further, in a "blastic" age, WE are a cadre of photographers keeping the Leica tradition alive. I DON'T believe that film will disappear that quickly. Yes, there may be more digital RF's in years to come. And, if film becomes scarce, we'll figure out how to make it! :D

Cheers, Mike
 
I liked the article in spite of the writer's frequent lame attempts at wit and his few lapses of photographic ignorance. (Example: He calls the Nocti Leica's "widest" lens when he meant "fastest.") The man did his homework and did manage to write nice outsider's introduction to the Leica world--with a few surprises for the Leica shooter. (Maybe.)
 
Nice and well written (sort of..) but for me is too generic.
The historic part is nice for divulgation, but some claims (Leica has the quietest shutter, rangefinder are the fastest cameras, not using a meter is cool, etc) are a bit too cliché.
Plus, at the end I was puzzled in reading that he has never owned a Leica, just tried a bit the M8... so everything he wrote before was just what he hear about Leica...

(Instead of dreaming an M he could have bought an Oly RC, at least he would talk about the cons of a RF too...)
 
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