Paul Reading Posted June 24, 2012 Share #41  Posted June 24, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) If we talk about the M range then the answer is quite simple. The lenses are manual and made of good quality materials and the glass is excellent. The cameras are well built and very tactile. For the most part you know that they are going to work every time and until fairly recently most did not require a battery to work so could be operated in the extreme cold without difficulty.  Lastly they are still around…   Personally I think that the Contax cameras both reflex and compact ticked just about all the buttons of Leica, but I think the problem with them its that they were "a poor man's Leica" so they are not around any more.  I don't believe that images from Leica cameras are that much better than images taken by other cameras any more, don't shoot me down here because when wines are tasted they are tasted blind. How many of you could honestly look at a series of images on a wall and identify those taken with a Leica? A bit of bokeh would help but without it?  No the thing that makes the difference is the package, quality, feel and the refusal to compromise on quality. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted June 24, 2012 Posted June 24, 2012 Hi Paul Reading, Take a look here What makes Leica Special?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
erl Posted June 25, 2012 Share #42 Â Posted June 25, 2012 Â I don't believe that images from Leica cameras are that much better than images taken by other cameras any more, don't shoot me down here because when wines are tasted they are tasted blind. How many of you could honestly look at a series of images on a wall and identify those taken with a Leica? A bit of bokeh would help but without it? Â Â My wife did a 'blindfold test' on my images when I bought my first Leica. I didn't tell her I had bought it, she just looked at my pictures and said, "what are doing that's different? Somehow your pictures look noticeably better." I have never found a better cue than that moment, to announce the purchase of any Leica gear! Â Incidentally, she picks the taste of wines better than I do as well. I think this is considered general with wines. They also make better colour judgement than we men. Kodak (Melbourne) always preferred women to do their colour balancing in the lab. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
farnz Posted June 25, 2012 Share #43 Â Posted June 25, 2012 Women also make better colour judgement than we men. Kodak (Melbourne) always preferred women to do their colour balancing in the lab. I wonder if that's connected in some way with the genetic disorder that causes colour blindness to be predominant in men? Â Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted June 25, 2012 Share #44  Posted June 25, 2012 I wonder if that's connected in some way with the genetic disorder that causes colour blindness to be predominant in men? Pete.  I don't know the answer to your query Pete, but it sure conforms to why my wife always used to 'nit pick' my prints as they came out of the darkroom! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cadfael_tex Posted June 25, 2012 Author Share #45  Posted June 25, 2012 To be perfectly honest I started this thread to talk me out of getting a Leica. I thought I'd probably get quite a few 'it's not the camera, it's the photographer' comments. I had also hoped for a few 'Leica draws those passionate about photography'. Though I did get some of those, you folks let me down. I am still not dissuaded  I kept looking at the photo's on here and going, 'wow'. I thought to myself, "self, you're just doing that because you want to get a Leica. you're talking yourself into it by imagining that it takes better pictures." So I undertook a somewhat less than scientific experiment to prove to myself it was just desire that imagined me to the Leica is special conclusion.  I did a 'blind taste test' on myself. I went over to Rangefinder Forum and went to several non-Leica specific/ general photo threads. I intentionally didn't look for the camera/lens info until I saw pictures I really loved or loathed. Invariably I picked the Leica ones as the love ones. Probably at about 80%.  For the record, the other 20% were mostly Zeiss and Jupiters (and mostly mounted to FSU or Leica) camera's. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted June 25, 2012 Share #46 Â Posted June 25, 2012 Cadfael_tex, stop beating your self around the head with a baseball bat. You know you want a Leica, so just get one! Â It may, or may not, make you a better photographer, but you have one hell of good time being just what you are, when using a Leica. (No warranties implied, just freely given!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff S Posted June 25, 2012 Share #47 Â Posted June 25, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) I wonder if that's connected in some way with the genetic disorder that causes colour blindness to be predominant in men? Â You're referring the 'X Factor'... the color vision gene, specifically red/green pigments (men are typically color blind to this spectrum), reside on the X chromosome, and women have 2 X chromosomes while men have only one. Women essentially have a 'back-up.' Some do indeed think that because women have two versions of this gene that color perception may be influenced. Â Perhaps related to this is the phenomenon called tetrachomacy, which refers to having a fourth cone beside red, green and blue (between red and green). Women are far more likely to fall in this category. Â There are many interesting studies one can find online about color perception, in particular the differences between men and women. As with most subjects, however, there is still a lot to learn about how and why women perceive things. Â Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rramesh Posted June 25, 2012 Share #48 Â Posted June 25, 2012 The imagery of HCB, the mystique of classic photo journalism, the minimalist design and output quality from Leica and the fact that a Leica camera fetched 2.16m euros at a recent auction. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NZDavid Posted June 25, 2012 Share #49  Posted June 25, 2012 ...As with most subjects, however, there is still a lot to learn about how and why women perceive things. Jeff  A subject even more mysterious than the mystique of Leica. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
farnz Posted June 25, 2012 Share #50 Â Posted June 25, 2012 You're referring the 'X Factor'... Oh no, not that awful Simon Cowell! That's another thing he has to answer for! Â Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ming Rider Posted June 25, 2012 Share #51 Â Posted June 25, 2012 . . . I have never found a better cue than that moment, to announce the purchase of any Leica gear! Â She then proceeded to beat me over the head with the presentation box Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfgang Esslinger Posted June 26, 2012 Share #52 Â Posted June 26, 2012 What makes Leica special? Image, founded in a glorious past when Leica was a superior product (apparently). Today it is all about being different. Historical superiority (?) plus differentiation is attractive to many, esp. men ;-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
topoxforddoc Posted June 26, 2012 Share #53 Â Posted June 26, 2012 Truly wondrous lenses first and foremost. Â After that though, I think it is all about making the cameras simple. This invites the user to think about how to use it. For me, it's all about manual settings of the aperture ring (yes all Leica lenses have them still - have you tried to find one on a Canikon lens recently?) - the shutter speed dial (what's that? Some people say), and great ergonomics that place these simple controls within easy reach of the photographer. Â That's why I love my R and M cameras. They are well designed, beautifully made and easy to use. What more can you ask for? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdsheepdog Posted June 27, 2012 Share #54 Â Posted June 27, 2012 Everything that has been said is worth reading. To add to it is the knowledge that if I take a crappy photograph, there is no point trying to blame the equipment. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornellfrancis Posted June 27, 2012 Share #55  Posted June 27, 2012 To be perfectly honest I started this thread to talk me out of getting a Leica. I thought I'd probably get quite a few 'it's not the camera, it's the photographer' comments. I had also hoped for a few 'Leica draws those passionate about photography'. Though I did get some of those, you folks let me down. I am still not dissuaded  I kept looking at the photo's on here and going, 'wow'. I thought to myself, "self, you're just doing that because you want to get a Leica. you're talking yourself into it by imagining that it takes better pictures." So I undertook a somewhat less than scientific experiment to prove to myself it was just desire that imagined me to the Leica is special conclusion.  I did a 'blind taste test' on myself. I went over to Rangefinder Forum and went to several non-Leica specific/ general photo threads. I intentionally didn't look for the camera/lens info until I saw pictures I really loved or loathed. Invariably I picked the Leica ones as the love ones. Probably at about 80%.  For the record, the other 20% were mostly Zeiss and Jupiters (and mostly mounted to FSU or Leica) camera's.  Frankly, you won't get responses to dissuade you here! This is a community of Leica fanatics. We not only love taking pictures with our Leicas, we fetishize our Leicas and even find it necessary to talk about them here when we are not taking pictures. Rightly or wrongly, everyone here believes that Leicas are special, otherwise they wouldn't be wasting their time on this forum. I suspect that if you posed such a question in a general photography forum you would get a range of different responses and opinions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
algrove Posted June 27, 2012 Share #56 Â Posted June 27, 2012 Simple question, how complex is the answer? Â WE all make Leica special cumulatively and in our own ways. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
farnz Posted June 27, 2012 Share #57 Â Posted June 27, 2012 Canikolympsony make Leica special. Well, they certainly help. Â Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelRabern Posted June 28, 2012 Share #58 Â Posted June 28, 2012 Elite. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vk2109 Posted June 28, 2012 Share #59 Â Posted June 28, 2012 What's so special about Leica ? A high quality tool ! but again it's not because you own one that you'll be a better photographer than someone using canon, nikon... Â indeed it's with the help of this tool to your skills that's make you create great image. it's simple camera where you have to know to set A, T and ISO...it's small, well built (and would say built for life) and almost unnoticeable to others. You need to have the skills other it does nothing to you. Â It's like why what's so special of owning a Steinway & Sons Piano vs a Yamaha Synthe ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ming Rider Posted June 28, 2012 Share #60 Â Posted June 28, 2012 What makes Leica Special ? Â No other camera can cause the photographer to expect so much. Â No other camera can create such a high expectation amongst others of the photographer and his work. Â No other camera can create so many 'old boy networks'. Â No other camera can create such a clearly defined line between `Us and Them`. Â No other camera can be the cause of such hate fueled jealousy by those who do not or simply can not own one. Â No other camera has accumulated so many famous photographers and images, and as a result, be the sole cause of all the above. Â The question that will really bake your noodle is, are these qualities good or bad ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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