Christoph13 Posted July 4, 2011 Share #1 Posted July 4, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) I honestly don't care about M8 and M9 fora combined or separate. But what I find REALLY odd is that while there is a forum for cameras (actually a separate one for each model) there is not a single one devoted to M lenses. Which is what interests me most and looking around in the camera-specific forums others seem to feel the same way. A good chunk of posts inside the camera-specific fora discuss characteristics of lenses, not cameras. If the purpose of having separate fora for different camera models is to keep focus then I would argue that the difference between a camera and a lens is larger than between the characteristics of a lens attached to different camera bodies. Can we have a lens forum then? Christoph13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted July 4, 2011 Posted July 4, 2011 Hi Christoph13, Take a look here Let's have a forum devoted to lenses. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
UliWer Posted July 4, 2011 Share #2 Posted July 4, 2011 A separate section for lenses has been proposed several times before. There are many pros and cons. In the meantime I can live well with the practice in the international forum, where threads about lenses are generally to be found in the "customer's forum" and often moved there by moderators if someone opens a new one elsewhere. So it's easier to find a recent thread. In the german forum you always have to look into the customer's forum, those about the M8 and M9 and the analogue forum - if you are sure that it isn't in the section for historica. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolo Posted July 5, 2011 Share #3 Posted July 5, 2011 A separate section for lenses has been proposed several times before. There are many pros and cons. The use of tags set and groups on Flickr provides an invaluable resource for research on Leica lenses. It seems to me to be information that would be useful here in an easy to find directory, but after many requests it's clearly not going to be provided. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted July 5, 2011 Share #4 Posted July 5, 2011 I am in favour of a lens sub-forum too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
azzo Posted July 5, 2011 Share #5 Posted July 5, 2011 ... even more important than the camera itself whichever that might be! ...... IMHO. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted July 5, 2011 Share #6 Posted July 5, 2011 But where does the typical type of "which first lens for my M9" thread go? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christoph13 Posted July 5, 2011 Author Share #7 Posted July 5, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) But where does the typical type of "which first lens for my M9" thread go? A lens forum would offer a choice, if a poster wanted an opinion primarily on the lens it would go to the lens forum, if he or she wanted a response strictly from the M9 crowd -> M9 camera subforum. I don't see a problem here and compared with the current situation it would still be an improvement. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
UliWer Posted July 5, 2011 Share #8 Posted July 5, 2011 Though there is no way to force someone to start a thread just in one specific forum. Perhaps a lens forum would help to give you an idea where to look first, if you want to know anything about a lens - though that's never sure: "Is it safe for the M9 to collapse a 50-Elmar?" "What's the effect of coding a lens, when I use it with the M8?" "What's the proper hood for a 2.5/5cm Hektor?" "Are there differences when I use the 3.4/21 with film or on a digital M?" "Do I need a magnifier for the M6 with 75mm?" "Are Zeiss viewfinders better for 18mm than Leica?" Poor moderator who has to decide, if one of these questions is in the proper forum. (The not so old man, who asked for a lens-forum about 2 years ago). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
euston Posted July 6, 2011 Share #9 Posted July 6, 2011 When this came up last summer the pros and cons were debated by subscribers to this site but, as far as I recall, we never heard from the site owner. Since the decision is his, ultimately, his is the only opinion that matters. I am curious to know why he believes that a site devoted to the best lens maker in the world does not need a dedicated lens forum. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christoph13 Posted July 6, 2011 Author Share #10 Posted July 6, 2011 Though there is no way to force someone to start a thread just in one specific forum. Perhaps a lens forum would help to give you an idea where to look first, if you want to know anything about a lens - though that's never sure: "Is it safe for the M9 to collapse a 50-Elmar?" "What's the effect of coding a lens, when I use it with the M8?" "What's the proper hood for a 2.5/5cm Hektor?" "Are there differences when I use the 3.4/21 with film or on a digital M?" "Do I need a magnifier for the M6 with 75mm?" "Are Zeiss viewfinders better for 18mm than Leica?" Poor moderator who has to decide, if one of these questions is in the proper forum. (The not so old man, who asked for a lens-forum about 2 years ago). I hear what you say but the remaining vagueness should be balanced against the current situation. There are so many questions which are clearly lens-specific and end up claiming an awkward position in the M9 forum. Or the M8 forum. Or the customer forum. Etc. Although we can certainly debate if some of theabove questions are more camera or lens-centric I think that this is ultimately besides the point. The point is that it is odd that there is a separate forum for many camera models but not a single one for lenses. The forum would quite simply be better balanced if there were a forum for lenses which could accommodate the lens-specific topics. The camera-specific forums don't go anywhere (although personally I think they are overly diversified but that's a different topic). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christoph13 Posted July 6, 2011 Author Share #11 Posted July 6, 2011 When this came up last summer the pros and cons were debated by subscribers to this site but, as far as I recall, we never heard from the site owner. Since the decision is his, ultimately, his is the only opinion that matters. I am curious to know why he believes that a site devoted to the best lens maker in the world does not need a dedicated lens forum. So true. We can only make our case and politely ask for a lens forum to be created and this is what we do, we are not on a crusade. In the event that people don't use it it can always be scrapped but I think in the long run it will probably shake out fine. Let's see. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted July 6, 2011 Share #12 Posted July 6, 2011 A lot of this is down to Google and how it references the site. It takes a long time to get the Google search results where one would want them. It's also historic, in as much as there never used to be any camera-specific sub-forums at all. Everything went into one "Customer" forum, except photos which went into the sub-forums that we have today. Here's what the closing front page of the old forum used to look like http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/discus_e/messages/2/2.html When Andreas took over the forum from Leica, additional sections were added, but the Customer sub-forum remained as the "default" place to place questions about Leica in general and lenses. Since then, of course, usage has changed to the more specific sub-forums. It's Andreas's call on this one. If you feel very strongly about it, send him (admin) a PM with your ideas. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NZDavid Posted July 6, 2011 Share #13 Posted July 6, 2011 I agree a lens sub forum is a very logical idea. Looking at another forum with the same basic design it shouldn't be too difficult to add. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 6, 2011 Share #14 Posted July 6, 2011 But where does the typical type of "which first lens for my M9" thread go? In FAQ. Answer: 35mm with very different price tags. (Sorry, no other answer imo for the M9. You can crop your 50mm image out of it, not only after four years of M8. This against the risk of having a too tight shot with a 50mm, which is a tad more difficult to focus - wide open and fast, not only for a beginner.) IMO trafic is not overwhelming, so looking in different sub-fora would be more complicated and hence a disadvantage. And soon you'll have more people competing to sound like Johnson when talking about claret. No intention to be contrarian against a mod and a top photog*, but a change should always be for the better imo. What should stay in the customer forum then? Complains about Solms/N.J. C.S. only? And no more lenses in the Historica section?? Try to explain that to some gentlemen there. Could understand that they would be not amused. ________ *erratum: two top photographers, not counting James, since he's not clearly in favour of a change. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestMichigan Posted July 6, 2011 Share #15 Posted July 6, 2011 +1 from Me. Emphatic Plus One. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestMichigan Posted July 6, 2011 Share #16 Posted July 6, 2011 But where does the typical type of "which first lens for my M9" thread go? (Humor Warnng!) How about a Sticky for all forums saying: All threads based upon "which first lens for my M(anything)" are encouraged to be filled with nonsensical replies, knock-knock jokes, and general jocularity. Moderators will politely delete any posts containing useful or helpful information. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
roguewave Posted July 6, 2011 Share #17 Posted July 6, 2011 I'd be very happy to see a Lens section of the Forum. In years past, I was able educate myself by sharing information about test shots of various lenses that were and remain very important to me, the R80Lux,R35Lux , R24 Elmarit & R19 Elmarit. These remain my primes, largely due to generosity and knowledge of Forum members. It would be very useful to organize discussions not only about the design & use, but about the practical elements of employing lens for particular goals. As an example, one Forum member from NZ tutored me in the mastering of the 24 Elmarit. His sage advice made a huge difference in how I ultimately embraced this lens and learned how best to use it. I don't own every Leica lens in the R & M systems, so it's always a pleasure to be in a position of learning from others how they accomplish their goals and in turn, how I can improve my use of these tools. I hope others can see the long term merit in having a growing knowledge base & access to discussions about these jewels. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 6, 2011 Share #18 Posted July 6, 2011 Virgil, William and some others (mostly Britons and down under members) still missing to have the heavyweights' point of view, which is clear. Talk-the-talk average mortals like me should lurk on this thread here and Admin maybe listen. Solms won't mind lens' shilling, because gentlemen: if you were made to use i-phones only or disposables - beginning tomorrow, your pictures would still stick out. It could start with a Noctliux sub-sub forum right away and a thread in it à la 09/9/9 : "I've got one !" Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Geschlecht Posted July 8, 2011 Share #19 Posted July 8, 2011 Hello Everybody, I think I might not understand the issues @ hand. There are already speciality Forums for Digital w/ sub Forums, as well as Film, Historical & so on Forums. The change in the # of people participating &/or joining this Forum as a factor of adding a specialized Lens Forum OR NOT is not likely to be significant since lenses are already discussed in many areas. I think what I might not be seeing is what exactly the specifics are of why not to create a specialized section? Is it costly, time consuming or something else? These are legitimate concerns. Certainly it is clear from reading in any of the Forums that the interest is here. Cameras are the box which hold the device which records the captured images. Lenses in all their diversity capture these images. Their proclivities, advantages & limitations are what primarily determine the photography we all do. More so even than film, sensor or shutter speed. The need to be able to discuss lenses in all their variety is clear. The reason/s not to have a more navigable centralized Lens area to do this in when people want the more concentrated focus is, or @ least I think might be, the question. I would appreciate some help clarifying these issues from Andreas or anyone else who would like to. Best Regards, Michael Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
epand56 Posted July 14, 2011 Share #20 Posted July 14, 2011 What if I want to know which M for my first lens? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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