Quote:
Originally Posted by Roel
...... And the market for the daily work is very much quite different than in the fifties.......
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Roel,
Actually I think the market really remains the same. A photographer that is in demand because of his style and quality of work, vision and craftsmanship rarely gets questioned about the tools he uses. As such he does not lack the work he needs to make a living.
Most clients are not knowledgeable about our tools but they are generally very knowledgeable about their needs and the cost of meeting them.
It is the demand and supply of talent not the tools. This is not a comment on your skills but rather the fact that if a lot of photographers are equally and interchangeably skillful in the market, then inevitably with a lesser market share it becomes much harder to raise your eyes away from the grind of daily work to develop creative styles and work to differentiate.
Or maybe it is really the limitation of the local market you are in. A market that does not have a broad and diverse spectrum of needs for the different sorts of photography work may naturally need only a general and but very versatile tool like the SLR.
Which makes it very difficult for Leica to find a market of a niche tool like the range-finder. They can only start with their already existing clients and re-built from there. They probably were not expecting professionals to be enthusiastic. With some positive reviews, they were probably encouraged to return to the crucible where they built their reputation.
And Kambers rightly pointed out the inadequacies for him and his work. He does not speak for all PJs. Just himself. In his case the only thing Leica can do is to build an M good enough to turn that opinion.
Note that it is not nostalgia but need that drives his desire to use a range-finder. His passion is for his work and how his tools acquit themselves for his work. His 5D allows him to do his job better but not for every aspect. It's a different tool.