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What fuel Leica hatred...

Dali

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Look for the new Thambar 2.2/90mm pages on the Leica site... Clearly we don't talk photography anymore. $6,500 a pop to get blurry pictures? Come on...
 
but supposedly it makes sunshine according to one of the threads
here on photrio

i don't really know about the hatred though people just hate..
its surprising humans have lasted this long.
 
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It might be ridiculous, and it would be a ridiculous purchase for me, but the hatred comes from something inside the kind of people who are always looking for an opportunity to use the phrase "Veblen goods" in public, and those people don't need much fueling to go off.
 
Leica may still make excellent hardware but as cameras and lenses go, it's more about status now. Many people that can afford to buy a $6500 lens want to buy it to show that they can afford it. I think the hatred, animosity, whatever, stems partly from jealousy, partly from knowing they make a huge profit from each item and partly from knowing that much of the hullaballoo surrounding Leica is about status.
 
I saw a chrome Lamborghini yesterday. People surrounded it as if expecting a prophecy. Hatred often comes from fear of inadequacy so it stands to reason that those angry people should buy either a chrome Lamborghini or a nice digital Leica and Thambar lens so they can be happy.
 

I had a ride on one once, it was pulling a harrow. Wasn't chrome either.
very similar to this one - https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...ctor.jpg/1024px-Lamborghini_C_603_tractor.jpg
 
It's also the irrational trigger people get when folks who are leica fanboys start gushing over the cameras. When people talk about the little red dot as if it were the photographic second coming of Jesus, and that no other camera even comes close, and that 60 year old Leica lenses are superior in every way to all other lenses made before or since (yes I know I'm indulging in a bit of hyperbole to make a point, but it's not really that far off of what you can/do hear from the biggest fanboys). Or worse, they resort to an "I can't explain it in quantifiable terms, it's just something you'd have to experience for yourself" rationale. And I just don't get the need for people to sit around and talk about their (insert brand name here) cameras with each other when they're talking about how wonderful the camera is - it's as if they need reinforcement for their decision to purchase the camera. Show me a dozen photos taken with a dozen different 35mm cameras, one of which was a Leica. Double-blind test, with the only variation being the camera - same photographer, same scene, same light, same film, same developer, printed on the same paper, by the same printer. If you then have 100 people look at said prints, and they can pick out which one was shot by the Leica more than 50% of the time, then I'll buy that there's something super-worthy about them. Until then, it's just another highly specialized tool. It might well be the best make and model of that specialized tool out there, but it is a highly specialized tool. Just as I wouldn't use a ball peen hammer to try and drive an Allen screw, I wouldn't use a Leica M to photograph wildlife, nor would I use it to do underwater or macro photography.
 
I know people that spend $60K on a pickup truck.

Do you hate them too?
 
darkosaric said:
I have seen money spent on stupider things than on overpriced lenses (and yes, of course they are overpriced, but people are buying - so why sell it for less, when you can get more)...
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So have I. Doesn't mean Leica products are not overpriced and marketed as luxury products.
 
I'm pretty sure this covers it; plain envy
 
As far as absolutely fantastic mechanical contrivances go, it's pretty hard to find anything to surpass the M3. Leitz lenses are extraordinarily good, by and large.
However, if you want the original Leica philosophy, you need to get a Barnack Leica, probably not later than a IIIf - even the IIIg is moving away from the original idea.
Advertising Leicas as a boutique product has been happening for decades, nothing new there. But when they started releasing the special editions, like the Hermes (for which there is no other justification than the ability to say "I have it!") they lost me. I'll just wait for a nice example of anything along the continuum from IIIa to IIIf to come along, although my ideal would be a IIIc-k. I do sometimes regret parting with my M3s, but oh well.
 

I agree with every word. Brilliantly put.
 
I can't speak for anyone else besides myself, but I personally am annoyed by people simply repeating what companies tell them in their ads, rather than actually comparing over-priced products to cheaper ones and really looking at the facts.
This is very true for every product with mighty fanbases, like basically everything released by Apple for example.
I don't envy anyone that spends 1000 dollars for a phone, everyone can use his or her money as they wish.
But then stick to the facts of what it actually is and can do and be open to criticism too. Have you ever dared to say anything negative to such a fan about the beloved product?
THIS is what annoys me, I am not envious, I could easily also buy the same thing myself, but so many people think that their product is SO much better than anything else in the word, just because the manufacturer told them so.
This is an important factor in the "hate" directed at certain products and the hype, at least for me, because I am sadden by the fact that so many people rather believe what a company tells them instead of challenging the ads and looking at the facts.
 

The consumer is trained to be a magpie, bringing home shiny things to decorate the nest. No matter that they don't understand what it is (a smartphone is a tiny miracle), they just have to have it - and when the new one hits the market, they have to have that and on and on and on....
 
BrianVS said:
I know people that spend $60K on a pickup truck.

Do you hate them too?
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The RAM dealer associated with the dealer we bought are most recent car from sells a lot of $100,000.00 CDN pickup trucks.
Some of that expense makes some sense for those who use their trucks at work. Even for those who pull large RVs. But a lot of it is for comfort and appearance and convenience accessories.
I see no reason to hate those who choose to spend that money that way.
 
If they want to spend that kind on money on a camera, who am I to say that they should not?
 
this hatred shown at both sides of the gear spectrum
there are people that dislike leica users
and there are people who dislike lo-fi users ( lomographers or holga users )
equally as much ... its a tribal thing
 
Does anyone else think hate is too strong a term. I think it is more disdain.
 
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