With RED DOT or Without?

[Al Kaplan]

I'm pretty much OK except for a spot on my head that's still sore. I had a regularly scheduled check-up this morning and the doc says I'm OK, but a bit nuts for doing what I did. He thought the pix were cool though. Once in a lifetime is enough though! 66 year old "senior citizens" aren't supposed to be involved in fights. All day people have been telling me that they emailed the link to the photos about everyplace but the moon. It just goes to prove that pictures don't have to be shot with an expensive camera or be really sharp either...LOL. Maybe I should glue a red dot on the Bessa L?

http://thepriceofsilver.blogspot.com

 

[DougFord]

[FONT=&quot]Back a few years ago when I owned an m6 classic, I covered the red dot with a square of black electrical tape. I don’t much like the color red.[/FONT]

 

[Al Kaplan]

Maybe I SHOULD get red dots on my Leicas. The crazy woman at the polls might have said "OOOH! What a pretty camera!" instead of bopping me in the face? Nah. Current Florida law allows use of "deadly force" if you feel that your life is being threatened. The next punch in the face, and I don't care if it is a woman (she sure wasn't a "lady"), will be greeted with a Leica M3 sporting a chromed brass 85/2 Nikkor. I've been carrying it hanging from a strap wrapped around my right wrist. It should make a nice melodious "THUNK!" when it collides with the side of his or her head.

 

[chippy]

The M2 I'm using has no Dot. Should I feel deprived? 🙄

nah, you have real Leica 😉

people dont realise it but all the models with the much desired red dot are really Cosina cameras 😛 😀😀

the first real rangefinder cameras with the original red dot (same size and hard to see the difference from more than a foot or two away) was the Petri (50's RF) by Kuribayashi-changed to Petri camera company in 62, in the 70's Cosina bought the rights to the Petri, just about the exact time that they started appearing on Leica's hahaha

so by all means keep the red dot, it steeps in history, just not Leica cameras 😛😀😀

 

[ItsReallyDarren]

I only have one, which didn't come with a red dot. I put a blue sprocket sticker on the top to distract the nosy collector when I'm out shooting.

 

[ItsReallyDarren]

Maybe I SHOULD get red dots on my Leicas. The crazy woman at the polls might have said "OOOH! What a pretty camera!" instead of bopping me in the face? Nah. Current Florida law allows use of "deadly force" if you feel that your life is being threatened. The next punch in the face, and I don't care if it is a woman (she sure wasn't a "lady"), will be greeted with a Leica M3 sporting a chromed brass 85/2 Nikkor. I've been carrying it hanging from a strap wrapped around my right wrist. It should make a nice melodious "THUNK!" when it collides with the side of his or her head.

hah stealth works both ways here. Who could guess such a small camera with a little red dot could pack such a punch when shoved in the face. And keep on ticking too!

 

[MarkoKovacevic]

Without 😛

 

[Al Kaplan]

Taking that punch in the face, overall, was a good thing. Now everybody around KNOWS that a photographer has the right to take pictures in public, the state's investigative agency, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, is investigating "voter intimidation" at the polls, it's appearing that the candidate she was working for wasn't even a city resident long enough to qualify to run and might never have really lived in the city, there's a civil lawsuit brought by another candidate for the seat (court hearing on July 27th) in addition to the criminal investigation, there's more. It gets really involved and complicated, and the feds seem interested too, for violation of the Voting Rights Act. If this woman had just smiled at me and said "Does my hair look OK? Should I refresh my lipstick?" in all probability this little problem of legal residency never would have come to light, or just how many people who voted for him didn't live here either.

Who ever could have imagined that retirement could be this exciting? Everybody in town seems to read my blog, everywhere I go people know my name. Life is fun. And I did all this with a BESSA and no red dot!

 

[Chris101]

I've never been punched for taking a photo (intimidated, yes, but punched, no) so my opinion is secondary. However, a long time ago (well, to my current memory, which if it lasts a year, I feel good about) I stealthed up my Leica, with lots of black tape. I even obscured the word Wetzlar from the lens shade!

Recently however, I uncovered the red dot. Not any of the other stuff - especially the word "Leica" but I just decided the dot was cool. And so now it shows, brightly and proudly.

ps, only Leicaphiles know what the red dot is, so to most folks it's just decoration.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

I wonder if Bentley owners have their car's logo painted over. Because people would otherwise know they're riding a car that doesn't quite look like 95% of the rest on the road.

If a red dot is perceived to spoil your "stealthness", you should buy these other effective stealth products:

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Gabriel, the camo look still reveals that the camera is an obvious Canon. You can tell by the shape of the viewfinder and prism. 🙂

Of course, after voting and reconsidering the dots... I now feel way too conspicuous when using my Leicas. But I still like red dots! 😱 What can one do? 😕

 

[bhop73]

I voted with red dot, but I don't think it shouts anything. From my experience of owning my M6 for only a few months, nobody even knows what it is. The few people that have commented on it probably already knew what it was anyway. Most comments I get about it are "that looks like an old camera", and that's with the red dot showing... go figure..

 

[ChrisPlatt]

All my late '50's Japanese RF cameras have a red dot! 😉

Chris

 

[Chris101]

Does a red dot artar count?

 

[thomasw_]

The red dot sucks, and the written 'leica' logo on the top plate is sufficient; less is more in this case. Barenaked, unseen dots all the way 🙂

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

less is more in this case.

I thought the Holga had already been invented 😉

 

[Rogrund]

I would say a camera covered with black tape attracts much more attention than a small red dot or a logo...

 

[Turtle]

I've had no dot, red dot and black dot. Seems to have had no impact on my results. Aesthetically, I liked no dot best. No offense intended to anyone, but IMHO, I think this whole thing is silly. One of my favorite cameras posted on RFF by another member is his (can't remember who you are) hand-painted, red MD. I love the kitschy irreverence of that. And it looks cool, too.

Check out the YouTube vids of Gary Winogrand out shooting. He rubs the camera on his face (an M4, btw) while deciding what to look at. He treats it, as Al says, like it's part of him.

Winogrand rubbed it on his face. Ahhh, thats where I have been going wrong.

 

[italy74]

With Red Dot, black taped maybe. 😉

 

[arseniii]

As long as it is all black (camera and lens) it doesn't drag too much of attention. So, doesn't really matter what dot colour is it..