At 06:02 12/22/01, Tom Trottier wrote:
On Friday, December 21, 2001 at 20:42, John A. Lind wrote re "Re: [OM] Re:
Lens Caps, digression into 50mm lens" saying:
[snip]
> However, adherents of Leitz' lenses prefer them, not because of pure MTF,
> but for other less tangible factors that are difficult to measure on a
bench
> in a laboratory.
Advertising. Class. Prestige. Name.
tOM
Add to that the "I can afford this and YOU CANNOT" snobbery, but that
doesn't apply to *all* its users.
There's no doubt the Leica was (and still is) "wrist jewelry" for some
"wannabes." If one cannot make world-class photographs, the "next best
thing" is pretending to be able to by buying the hardware used by some
famous world-class photographers. The same applies to the Kyocera's Contax
and the high end of Nik*n's offerings. [I'd rather work at being a
participant than a spectator; it's more rewarding.]
For others it was the overall manner in which they rendered
photographs. With the "serious" shooters (not the "wannabes") the Leica
threadmount had appeal because it was created and herded through its
evolution and design iterations by a single person, Oskar Barnack (much
like Maitani presided over the OM system). It shows in the complete system
and there is an aesthetic beauty to it in addition to its high
performance. Zeiss Ikon's Contax was more "design by committee" at Zeiss
Ikon. Although also well-integrated and equally world-class, it doesn't
show as much unified "vision" as the Leica. Priorities in their design
goals were different.
Leitz' LTM RF vs. ZI's Contax RF is the *original* 35mm Holy War dating
from the early 1930's and spanned three decades. It was conducted through
magazine articles, letters to editors, and even small printed tracts. I
only wonder what the "rec.photo" archives would contain if the internet had
exised then. The Can*n vs. Nik*n 35mm SLR Holy War has yet to reach its
cacophony level.
-- John
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