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RE: [OM] Mandler 50mm f/2 Summicron-M tested

Subject: RE: [OM] Mandler 50mm f/2 Summicron-M tested
From: Jan Steinman <Jan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 5 Aug 1999 10:15:41 -0700
From: sje@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Doris replied::

>... I think it is far harder to
>discuss the non technical aesthetic aspects of photography with words than
>it is to discuss the technical side of things.

Discussing non-technical aesthetic aspects of photography is more valuable
to us as intelligent human beings than talking about hardware.

As Doris said, it is easier to address the objective technical aspects than the subjective artistic aspects.

On the other hand, this technical dimension is what attracts many of us. In all the art classes I've taken, there wasn't too much discussion about the technical differences among media -- you took your box of pencils, drew some lines, and then used the one that gave the result you wanted. Imagine the alternative:

"In Popular Artistry graphite block tests, the Staedler 2B was found to have the best resolution and contrast of all 2B's tested to date. No doubt, the price of the Staedler will skyrocket, and artists seen pathetically attempting their craft with inferior products will be laughed out of the gallery."

...  I hope the
growth in online galleries (the unofficial OM gallery, ADITL and individual
pages by list members) will further this cause [of promoting art instead of technology].

I think it has -- it's gotten us away from our keyboards to actually take pictures! The commentary posted was very different from the usual "is this lens better than this other lens" sort of talk.

Images are very different than words -- and heavily compressed JPEGs even more so. Words lend themselves to the objective discussion of transfer function ratings and f-stops. Images -- especially small, compressed web images -- get us thinking about composition and artistry instead.

Q: What do you get when you cross a nerd with an artist?

A: A photographer. :-)


: Jan Steinman <mailto:jans@xxxxxxxxxxx>
: 19280 Rydman Court, West Linn, OR 97068-1331 USA
: +1.503.635.3229

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