Re: Re: Just a dream
I was very happy that my ME takes pictures without battery.. I was on my way to a roundtrip through norway when I realized that the meter doesn't work. It was at a train station and my train was leaving 10 minutes later. There was a camera store in the station and I rushed in and bought a new battery.. the person inside seemed to know what he was doing... Later in the train I realised that the meter still wasn't working. I thought that there was something broken. 3 weeks and a lot of rolls later I went to my camera store at home and the man there dicovered that I had bought an empty battery... but a lot of my pictures turned out ok and I was happy that I didn't had to buy a new camera... and I was really happy that I didn't had a modern camera with me ^_^ bye Katrin At 02:53 PM 1/30/2003 -0800, you wrote: We went through this battery-dependence is bad debate thirty years ago with motorcycles, when electric starters first became popular. People wanted the kickstarters retained, but eventually trusted the electric starters, and grew accustomed to the convenience (especially if you stalled the engine at a green light). For those with a survivalist mindset, anything battery-dependent might not work in a post-apocalyptic society, but for the rest of us, AA batteries are usually pretty easy to find.
Re: Spotmatics are a Philosophy, WAS: Just a dream
I met him a number of times myself, back in the days when I was working full time for car magazines. I spent a few days with him on the Delmar Peninsula back in 1980 at a Volkswagen launch. He had a trendously intelligent dry wit and could entertain the whole table at dinner. I remember the tiff with GM. Interestingly enough, he was once an ad guy himself. In fact he was Creative Director on the Chevrolet business at Campbell Ewald. Paul Mike Johnston wrote: I had the pleasure of meeting David E. once--went to his home in Ann Arbor to inspect some of his antique view cameras. He founded _Automobile_ after leaving _CD_ because he said he didn't know any other way to make a lot of money. He's a principled guy, though--once in the early years of _Automobile_ when it was still struggling he published a review of a GM car that was a bit too sarcastic for them, and they threatened to take their advertising and walk if he didn't watch himself. He told them to take their advertising and shove it up their asses. They pulled all their advertising. It came at a bad time and very nearly sunk the magazine--which survived in the end, despite big bad old bully GM. I've always admired the chutzpah that took. --Mike
Re: Just a dream
Mike wrote: Odd, but no one really makes a top-quality classic MMM SLR camera these days, unless you count the Hunchback of Solms, the strange and bulky (and singularly unpopular) Leica R9. Didn't Leica recently discontiue the R6.2; arguably the only Leica SLR that make some sense? At least I found it mildly desireable being all mechanical but with spotmetering - a rare and desireable combination. The R9 and the R8 that preceeded it are both too ugly to sell. Most annoying of all is that the mode switch is on the on-off switch so every time you turn on the camera you have to set exposure mode as well. It is easy to overscroll when in a hurry and most have their favorute mode anyway which they use most of the time. God knows how the Leica R system fares now with the increasing popularity of digital. Pål
Re: Just a dream
- Original Message - From: Pål Jensen Subject: Re: Just a dream God knows how the Leica R system fares now with the increasing popularity of digital. I wouldn't have thought the R cameras would have appealed to the same demographic. For that matter, I am still trying to figure out what demographic the R system would appeal to. William Robb
Re: Spotmatics are a Philosophy, WAS: Just a dream
Mike wrote: No sooner was the war against station wagons won than we get...this. Roadways clotted with bastardized _trucks_. Honestly, not in my wildest imaginings thirty years ago (as I soaked up Patrick Bedard in Study Hall), could I have even conceived of anything as tasteless and misbegotten as a Lincoln Navigator. But this is an US phenomenon. The small vehicle is alive and well living everywhere else. --Music listening as a hobby. Not only has vinyl been relegated to the margins (in my youth I was an enthusiastic record collector, and I still consider turntables to be among the most satisfying of toys), but two-channel recorded music is beginning to atomize, subsumed into a Babel of competing formats and various subspecies of home entertainment. The pure form of the art is, of course, acoustic instruments on vinyl on a two-channel stereo with a tube amp and pre-amp. I've only got one tube in my Audio Research preamp :-) - but my next amp may be fully tubed. There's no shortage of high quality audio gear. For record collectors, the market is better than ever. With the help of the net almost anything can be found within ten minutes. This week I've ordered four records. I just received Greatest Show on Earth the goings easy album which I ordered from Germany two days ago. In the mail are Clearlight Symphonys Forever blowing bubbles in a rare japanese pressing, Steve Hillage Green album on the rare first pressing on green vinyl and an original UK promo pressing of String Driven Thing's The machine that cried. The only thing I have left are books. Fortunately, books endure: one lifetime is not long enough to see them eclipsed. However, if the situation with books goes like cars, stereos, movies, and cameras, pretty soon all new books will be paperbacks and most books with any literary merit will only be published online. Yuuuck! The house is filling over with books Pål
Re: Just a dream
Peter wrote: Battery dependance is especially bad when you're two days on foot away from the nearest store and find out that the batteries you had for backup died of disuse. You don't have to be a survivalist to appreciate a mechanical backup. (Stainless Steal? Magnesium? what the hell happened to Brass, (or does that make me a survivalist). You certainly don't have to be a survivalist. There's something pure about doing photography without consuming lots of electricity. The joy of precision mechanical gear. I even bought an expensive watch a year that slows 1,5 minutes a week but don't use batteries. However, the battery issue is real for me. I may be days away from a battery store (there aren't many around anyway that sell those specialised camera batteries). My MZ-S battery consumption is borderline at 30 rolls a set. However, the battery consumption of the 645 doesn't worry me as a set of batteries last for more rolls than I bother to count. If the batteries are reasonably new I don't even bother with backups with this particular body. Pål
Re: Just a dream
One more type of camera user that you don't understand. BR [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: God knows how the Leica R system fares now with the increasing popularity of digital.
Re: Just a dream
This is impossible. In 1964 a bill was passed that introduced a new Norse God for Pentaxes, and since that time no Pentax has remained in a dysfunctional state for more than 19 minutes in Norway. This is common knowledge. BR [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I was very happy that my ME takes pictures without battery.. I was on my way to a roundtrip through norway when I realized that the meter doesn't work. It was at a train station and my train was leaving 10 minutes later. There was a camera store in the station and I rushed in and bought a new battery.. the person inside seemed to know what he was doing... Later in the train I realised that the meter still wasn't working. I thought that there was something broken. 3 weeks and a lot of rolls later I went to my camera store at home and the man there dicovered that I had bought an empty battery... but a lot of my pictures turned out ok and I was happy that I didn't had to buy a new camera... and I was really happy that I didn't had a modern camera with me ^_^ bye Katrin
Re: Just a dream
For those with a survivalist mindset, anything battery-dependent might not work in a post-apocalyptic society, but for the rest of us, AA batteries are usually pretty easy to find. . . .a post-apocalytpic society with 35 mm film but no batteries . . . The metal manual focus is tricky, however. I guess that just couldn't justify the cost and ended up with the cheaper MZ-M. I've always wondered why they killed the K-1000, however. The damn thing is AK-47 of 35 mm cameras. I wonder what a contemporary version, i.e., upgrade the meter, would cost? Steven Desjardins Department of Chemistry Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA 24450 (540) 458-8873 FAX: (540) 458-8878 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Just a dream
William Robb wrote: I wouldn't have thought the R cameras would have appealed to the same demographic. For that matter, I am still trying to figure out what demographic the R system would appeal to. Hi William, You can add me to the list of people who don't understand the appeal of the Leica R. I think the truth is that it has very little appeal outside the few SLR enthusiasts who won't shoot with any camera that doesn't have the L word on it. Having said that, a used Leica R body and some carefully chosen used Leica glass can become a surprisingly inexpensive outfit. If you avoid the less esoteric lenses and buy carefully, your outfit will cost a lot less than a similar used Contax outfit. Still, buy used Pentax MF gear and you get a superb selection of bodies and lenses at a fraction of the price of Leica and Contax gear and at a lower price than lesser Nikon and Canon stuff! (Obligatory sales spiel for Pentax!) John
Re: Just a dream
- Original Message - From: Peter Alling [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, January 31, 2003 1:35 AM Subject: Re: Just a dream If Pentax built an FM3n like camera in K mount I'd buy one. If they announced your electro-mechanical dream I'd pre-order. The Idea that it should look like an ESII, well I'd really prefer that it look like a LX, but either would be classic. I don't own an autofocus camera although I do own a couple of autofocus lenses. At 09:49 AM 1/30/2003 -0600, you wrote: A friend from Pentax who monitors this list read my Just a dream post and had this comment: The consumer, while expressing disdain for AF cameras, basically refuses to purchase manual focusing cameras. I guess that's pretty much that! --Mike Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. --Groucho Marx
Re: Just a dream
Peter Alling wrote: If Pentax built an FM3n like camera in K mount I'd buy one. Just how far from this ideal is the MX? I changed from the FM3A to the MX and found it had all that I *needed* ... John
Re: Spotmatics are a Philosophy, WAS: Just a dream
Good article. And he's completely right, at least for the industrial countries. The universities are just waiting to get rid of books. Most of my scientific journals are now online, since the library is running out of space and since it's a much better medium for a changing field. Students are tired of toting around notebooks and books in a bookbag. As soon as we have a functional reader that REALLY works and a convenient electronic note taker (try taking noters from an organic chemistry lecture on a laptop) that the switch to all-electronic course will be quick. If faculty would actually transfer all of their notes to electronic media, the students wouldn't even have to take any notes. Or come at all. As the price of a college education in the US keeps rising, the possibility of the Internet distance-learning E-degree is increasingly more attractive. This all becomes more likely when the books go away, and the biggest reason was given in this article. My university already has a network, and last year the chemistry dept. spent $14,000 on copying/printing. Steven Desjardins Department of Chemistry Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA 24450 (540) 458-8873 FAX: (540) 458-8878 [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] 01/30/03 07:30PM Mike Johnston [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: The only thing I have left are books. Fortunately, books endure: one lifetime is not long enough to see them eclipsed. However, if the situation with books goes like cars, stereos, movies, and cameras, pretty soon all new books will be paperbacks and most books with any literary merit will only be published online. Yuuuck! Did you ever read Time Magazine editor Daniel Okrent's Columbia University lecture titled The Death of PRINT? http://indigo.ie/~liztai/OLDSITE/elizabeth/deathofprint.htm -- Mark Roberts Photography and writing www.robertstech.com
Re: Spotmatics are a Philosophy, WAS: Just a dream
Mike wrote: --Music listening as a hobby. Not only has vinyl been relegated to the margins (in my youth I was an enthusiastic record collector, and I still consider turntables to be among the most satisfying of toys), but two-channel recorded music is beginning to atomize, subsumed into a Babel of competing formats and various subspecies of home entertainment. The pure form of the art is, of course, acoustic instruments on vinyl on a two-channel stereo with a tube amp and pre-amp. Mike - if you ever come through Indianapolis, let me know. I have a stack of LP's about five feet deep. Free, and I will throw in lunch g. Pal wrote: The house is filling over with books My books I will keep - and continue adding to the collection... Regards, Ed _ Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail
Re: Just a dream
... or buy Pentax Limited lenses. At a high level I don't see any difference between people with money buying the car/camera/vehicle/lens/boat/plane/house/truck they like. BR [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Like the appeal of the Hummer H1. People who have more money than sense.
Re: Just a dream
*g* It wasn't a dysfunctional pentax... I just could't imagine that a new bought battery was already empty and dicharged.. the camera was fine... you can see the outcome of that trip at http://www.xjapan.de/fotopage/fotos.html ^_^ bye Katrin On 31 Jan 2003 at 7:54, Bruce Rubenstein wrote: This is impossible. In 1964 a bill was passed that introduced a new Norse God for Pentaxes, and since that time no Pentax has remained in a dysfunctional state for more than 19 minutes in Norway. This is common knowledge. BR [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I was very happy that my ME takes pictures without battery.. I was on my way to a roundtrip through norway when I realized that the meter doesn't work. It was at a train station and my train was leaving 10 minutes later. There was a camera store in the station and I rushed in and bought a new battery.. the person inside seemed to know what he was doing... Later in the train I realised that the meter still wasn't working. I thought that there was something broken. 3 weeks and a lot of rolls later I went to my camera store at home and the man there dicovered that I had bought an empty battery... but a lot of my pictures turned out ok and I was happy that I didn't had to buy a new camera... and I was really happy that I didn't had a modern camera with me ^_^ bye Katrin ** Desertrose Chris' Katrin's X Japan homepage! Please visit it! http://www.xjapan.de * From now on I will try to live for you and for me. I will live with love...with dreams... and forever with tears.. **
Re: Just a dream
Mornin' Steve I have heard from someone who should know that the K-1000 would be too expensive to build this day and time. It's apparently much less expensive to use electronic components that are modular, rather than the large amount of hand work that is necessary for an all manual camera. Bill The metal manual focus is tricky, however. I guess that just couldn't justify the cost and ended up with the cheaper MZ-M. I've always wondered why they killed the K-1000, however. The damn thing is AK-47 of 35 mm cameras. I wonder what a contemporary version, i.e., upgrade the meter, would cost? Steven Desjardins Department of Chemistry Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA 24450 (540) 458-8873 FAX: (540) 458-8878 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Just a dream
Well, I knew the answer had to be something like this because you can get $200-250 for a good used K-1000 so you could probably get a bit more for a new one. Given this, however, it shouldn't surprise anyone that the MZ-S is $800 USD. I have heard from someone who should know that the K-1000 would be too expensive to build this day and time. It's apparently much less expensive to use electronic components that are modular, rather than the large amount of hand work that is necessary for an all manual camera. Steven Desjardins Department of Chemistry Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA 24450 (540) 458-8873 FAX: (540) 458-8878 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Just a dream
LX has never been the no.1 choice for me considered it's relability track record, and ongoing expensive service bills. It is a lovely camera when it works. Both Super A/Program and MX are a lot more reliable imho, and I certainly would not recommend to trade both for a LX. All this talk about the LX and the MX...the other day, somebody mentioned the coming flagship rumor and spoke of a camera we can all take to our graves. Of course this is not what any company wants...to sell a camera that will last forever and never need updating. Manufacturers want to sell cameras, not get into the business of servicing 25-year-old warhorses. I've referred to the LX/MX type cameras as MMM cameras (which I said was an idiosyncratic term sure not to catch on g). It meant Manual, Mechanical, and Metal. Odd, but no one really makes a top-quality classic MMM SLR camera these days, unless you count the Hunchback of Solms, the strange and bulky (and singularly unpopular) Leica R9. It's true, the Nikon FM3a exists and can be purchased new, but it's based on the FM/FE series, which was not top of the line. It was a popular design in its day, but not a premium or a deluxe camera. If you want a premium, deluxe MMM, you're a throwback. The market seems to want AF cameras with built-in motors and lithium batteries...Wunderplastik. (a term coined by Bill Pierce, and one that _has_ caught on.) And _now_ who will make such a thing...with digital here to stay? We have atelier manufacturers of classic wooden and metal view cameras (Ebony, Wisner, Canham, Gandolfi, etc.)...so in the future will someone step up and make a carriage-trade MMM SLR? I don't see that happening. Still, my dream camera is a Spotmatic SPIII. It would be the size, shape and weight of an ESII, with a K-mount, a 100% viewfinder, and aperture-priority AE and metered manual. Metering would be centerweighted averaging. If I really got to go hog-wild, I would include, OM-4T style, a button on the top plate that combined the function of a spot-meter and an AE lock (an incredibly useful feature on the old Olympus. And a feature that would finally justify the name Spotmatic!!) Styling would be retro-Pentax...finish would be the incredibly durable Spottie chrome finish (matching the Limited lenses nicely g), or black paint over brass that would wear down nicely. I suppose no one would buy it but me. But I would be happy. s --Mike
Re: Just a dream
Dream on :-( Lukasz === www.fotopolis.pl [EMAIL PROTECTED] === internetowy magazyn o fotografii - Original Message - From: Mike Johnston [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, January 30, 2003 12:30 PM Subject: Just a dream LX has never been the no.1 choice for me considered it's relability track record, and ongoing expensive service bills. It is a lovely camera when it works. Both Super A/Program and MX are a lot more reliable imho, and I certainly would not recommend to trade both for a LX. All this talk about the LX and the MX...the other day, somebody mentioned the coming flagship rumor and spoke of a camera we can all take to our graves. Of course this is not what any company wants...to sell a camera that will last forever and never need updating. Manufacturers want to sell cameras, not get into the business of servicing 25-year-old warhorses. I've referred to the LX/MX type cameras as MMM cameras (which I said was an idiosyncratic term sure not to catch on g). It meant Manual, Mechanical, and Metal. Odd, but no one really makes a top-quality classic MMM SLR camera these days, unless you count the Hunchback of Solms, the strange and bulky (and singularly unpopular) Leica R9. It's true, the Nikon FM3a exists and can be purchased new, but it's based on the FM/FE series, which was not top of the line. It was a popular design in its day, but not a premium or a deluxe camera. If you want a premium, deluxe MMM, you're a throwback. The market seems to want AF cameras with built-in motors and lithium batteries...Wunderplastik. (a term coined by Bill Pierce, and one that _has_ caught on.) And _now_ who will make such a thing...with digital here to stay? We have atelier manufacturers of classic wooden and metal view cameras (Ebony, Wisner, Canham, Gandolfi, etc.)...so in the future will someone step up and make a carriage-trade MMM SLR? I don't see that happening. Still, my dream camera is a Spotmatic SPIII. It would be the size, shape and weight of an ESII, with a K-mount, a 100% viewfinder, and aperture-priority AE and metered manual. Metering would be centerweighted averaging. If I really got to go hog-wild, I would include, OM-4T style, a button on the top plate that combined the function of a spot-meter and an AE lock (an incredibly useful feature on the old Olympus. And a feature that would finally justify the name Spotmatic!!) Styling would be retro-Pentax...finish would be the incredibly durable Spottie chrome finish (matching the Limited lenses nicely g), or black paint over brass that would wear down nicely. I suppose no one would buy it but me. But I would be happy. s --Mike ***r-e-k-l-a-m-a** Chcesz oszczedzic na kosztach obslugi bankowej ? mBIZNES - konto dla firm http://epieniadze.onet.pl/mbiznes
RE: Just a dream
I think it all depends how literally you real what was quoted. What they ideally want is exactly that, a camera that you CAN all take to your graves, but also one that they will be able to persuade you not to. What they need is to then provide you later with a camera that you would rather take than the first one which you could take. If they are successful in this then they actually need not make one to fit the quote exactly, but a camera you think you can all take to your graves would be sufficient. If everyone replaces it then no-one would ever put it to the test!! Pentax problem with the LX etc is that they never persuaded people that they WANTED to upgrade, not that they provided them with a camera which meant they didn't need to. -Original Message- From: Mike Johnston [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] All this talk about the LX and the MX...the other day, somebody mentioned the coming flagship rumor and spoke of a camera we can all take to our graves. Of course this is not what any company wants...to sell a camera that will last forever and never need updating. Manufacturers want to sell cameras, not get into the business of servicing 25-year-old warhorses.
Re: Just a dream
Mike wrote: Of course this is not what any company wants...to sell a camera that will last forever and never need updating. Manufacturers want to sell cameras, not get into the business of servicing 25-year-old warhorses. Perhaps if they want to make the definitive and LAST film SLR; it will never be replaced anyway! Pål
Re: Just a dream
Perhaps if they want to make the definitive and LAST film SLR; it will never be replaced anyway! Good point! --Mike
Re: Just a dream
A friend from Pentax who monitors this list read my Just a dream post and had this comment: The consumer, while expressing disdain for AF cameras, basically refuses to purchase manual focusing cameras. I guess that's pretty much that! --Mike
Re[2]: Just a dream
Mike wrote: MJ A friend from Pentax who monitors this list... Ooops, so there is a taupe on the list! Now the question is does he report further or is he reading just for fun... anyway, it's interesting to read an officious opinion. MJ The consumer, while expressing disdain for AF cameras, basically refuses to MJ purchase manual focusing cameras. This implies the AF is the object of disdain, which is inexact at best. Build quality and gizmo interface are more likely candidates. Make something different along this line, give it minimal specification (spotmeter comes in mind) and many would consider it - and not just as the second body. Servus, Alin
Re: Just a dream
Mike: Be sure and order one for me. It's frustrating, isn't it, to love a camera style that's dying out right before our eyes. --- Bob Keefer Keefer Photography Fine art hand-painted photos www.bkpix.com
Re: Just a dream
A friend from Pentax who monitors this list read my Just a dream post and had this comment: The consumer, while expressing disdain for AF cameras, basically refuses to purchase manual focusing cameras. Mike, if they made a manual focus range that would be a start. I think. My comment The store owner, while expressing lust for AF cameras, basically refuses to offer them for sale Cheers Peter
Re: Just a dream
- Original Message - From: Pat White Subject: Re: Just a dream A stainless steel SLR would probably be too heavy, so magnesium is a good alternative. Buddy of mine just bought an Olympus 5500 (?). Magnesium shell. Looks kinda like a quality rangefinder camera, and feels quite nice. William Robb
Re: Spotmatics are a Philosophy, WAS: Just a dream
Mike Johnston [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: The only thing I have left are books. Fortunately, books endure: one lifetime is not long enough to see them eclipsed. However, if the situation with books goes like cars, stereos, movies, and cameras, pretty soon all new books will be paperbacks and most books with any literary merit will only be published online. Yuuuck! Did you ever read Time Magazine editor Daniel Okrent's Columbia University lecture titled The Death of PRINT? http://indigo.ie/~liztai/OLDSITE/elizabeth/deathofprint.htm -- Mark Roberts Photography and writing www.robertstech.com
Re: Just a dream
Jeez, Mike they built the LX for 20 years, isn't that enough? At 05:30 AM 1/30/2003 -0600, you wrote: LX has never been the no.1 choice for me considered it's relability track record, and ongoing expensive service bills. It is a lovely camera when it works. Both Super A/Program and MX are a lot more reliable imho, and I certainly would not recommend to trade both for a LX. All this talk about the LX and the MX...the other day, somebody mentioned the coming flagship rumor and spoke of a camera we can all take to our graves. Of course this is not what any company wants...to sell a camera that will last forever and never need updating. Manufacturers want to sell cameras, not get into the business of servicing 25-year-old warhorses. I've referred to the LX/MX type cameras as MMM cameras (which I said was an idiosyncratic term sure not to catch on g). It meant Manual, Mechanical, and Metal. Odd, but no one really makes a top-quality classic MMM SLR camera these days, unless you count the Hunchback of Solms, the strange and bulky (and singularly unpopular) Leica R9. It's true, the Nikon FM3a exists and can be purchased new, but it's based on the FM/FE series, which was not top of the line. It was a popular design in its day, but not a premium or a deluxe camera. If you want a premium, deluxe MMM, you're a throwback. The market seems to want AF cameras with built-in motors and lithium batteries...Wunderplastik. (a term coined by Bill Pierce, and one that _has_ caught on.) And _now_ who will make such a thing...with digital here to stay? We have atelier manufacturers of classic wooden and metal view cameras (Ebony, Wisner, Canham, Gandolfi, etc.)...so in the future will someone step up and make a carriage-trade MMM SLR? I don't see that happening. Still, my dream camera is a Spotmatic SPIII. It would be the size, shape and weight of an ESII, with a K-mount, a 100% viewfinder, and aperture-priority AE and metered manual. Metering would be centerweighted averaging. If I really got to go hog-wild, I would include, OM-4T style, a button on the top plate that combined the function of a spot-meter and an AE lock (an incredibly useful feature on the old Olympus. And a feature that would finally justify the name Spotmatic!!) Styling would be retro-Pentax...finish would be the incredibly durable Spottie chrome finish (matching the Limited lenses nicely g), or black paint over brass that would wear down nicely. I suppose no one would buy it but me. But I would be happy. s --Mike Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. --Groucho Marx
Re: Just a dream
If Pentax built an FM3n like camera in K mount I'd buy one. If they announced your electro-mechanical dream I'd pre-order. The Idea that it should look like an ESII, well I'd really prefer that it look like a LX, but either would be classic. I don't own an autofocus camera although I do own a couple of autofocus lenses. At 09:49 AM 1/30/2003 -0600, you wrote: A friend from Pentax who monitors this list read my Just a dream post and had this comment: The consumer, while expressing disdain for AF cameras, basically refuses to purchase manual focusing cameras. I guess that's pretty much that! --Mike Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. --Groucho Marx
Re: Just a dream
Battery dependance is especially bad when you're two days on foot away from the nearest store and find out that the batteries you had for backup died of disuse. You don't have to be a survivalist to appreciate a mechanical backup. (Stainless Steal? Magnesium? what the hell happened to Brass, (or does that make me a survivalist). At 02:53 PM 1/30/2003 -0800, you wrote: We went through this battery-dependence is bad debate thirty years ago with motorcycles, when electric starters first became popular. People wanted the kickstarters retained, but eventually trusted the electric starters, and grew accustomed to the convenience (especially if you stalled the engine at a green light). For those with a survivalist mindset, anything battery-dependent might not work in a post-apocalyptic society, but for the rest of us, AA batteries are usually pretty easy to find. However, I must agree that metal cameras are preferable. The MZ-S's quality and sturdiness is on a different level from the rest of the MZ line. Notice how so many new PS digicams are stainless steel? A stainless steel SLR would probably be too heavy, so magnesium is a good alternative. Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. --Groucho Marx
