Thinking about growing the S.C. Network, again...

I may be wrong, but I think as of now, Talknex has a bunch of actual picures being posted, and that daily, by a good number of members. It is also, though I'm member of all four sites, the nicest, coolest, more laid back and compelling photo community I've ever seen on the net. So we have the whole spectrum from the worst ever board (m4/3 at DPR is just hellish) to the nicest ever, Talknex (IMO). Somehow, I tend to think that m4/3 need their own board, but others systems could have kept on thriving and interacting in mutual growth at SC. SC does seem a little sleepier now that all the Fuji users have migrated to the new site (where I contribute too, since I have an X10 and had loaners X100 and XE for a week).
I don't see much point in a Leica specific board, but I'm sure Leica users (not that I can ever even fancy being one) might appreciate, the effort. Who knows.
 
I actually looked at the other two forums today, the ones I am not a member of and I have to say the Nex forum did have a lot of image posters.. I was stunned. Then again any camera in the hands of the right photographer can be used to make good pictures so I wasn't based on the cameras but more the buzz of activity there that impressed me.
 
I'd certainly join. The only Leica I own is a IIIb from 1932, with which I shoot. Mostly I shoot a Bessa R with some Leica screw mount glass; does that count? If not, I'm just itching to get an M, mostly for the improvements in framing and viewfinder over the III series cameras.

On the other hand, Leica is certainly a serious compact that fits in here as well. From my perspective, the big advantage would be the opportunity to post some pictures from film to share with others in the group. Although there is no rule saying our serious compacts have to be digital, SC is mostly an outlet for digital enthusiasts. I don't think it would draw from this forum. I know when Xspot began, I spent more time there, but now I pretty much divide my time equally between it, SC, and mu-43 -- all of which have become important to me.
 
I started out at mu-43 when I bought an E-P1 back in 2010 and still works for me now because Micro 4/3 has been my main system all through that time. However, since I'm often trying out other cameras it has been good to have a more "neutral zone" at Seriouscompacts.

I'm a member of talknex and fujixspot since I tried out a NEX camera for a while and I am interested in seeing what Sony and Fuji are up to as well as any general photographic conversations that may crop up in those places. I do however feel quite hesitant to contribute in those two places since even though I would consider using either type of camera in the future, I am obviously coming from the perspective where at this point in time I have chosen not to use either Sony or Fuji and I don't want to come across as trollish.

I do feel that it is useful to have them as separate sites as pools of information on those two types of cameras just as mu-43 has always been for Micro 4/3, even though my current choice of cameras makes a (theoretically) non-brand specific forum like seriouscompacts better as a "one stop shop".
 
On the other hand, Leica is certainly a serious compact that fits in here as well. From my perspective, the big advantage would be the opportunity to post some pictures from film to share with others in the group. Although there is no rule saying our serious compacts have to be digital, SC is mostly an outlet for digital enthusiasts.

Agree with Larry; I have a 60s era M3, and have no real desire to buy a digital Leica, so the biggest benefit would be to encourage more taking and sharing of film images, not to mention tips and tricks on getting the most of the old-school rangefinders (which most digital Ms still use, granted)---no hybrid EVFs (even if I love the one on my X-Pro)! I would also broaden it to be a Leica system forum, L39 and M mount bodies of all sorts included, as well as their digital progeny, full-frame or otherwise.

Amin, instead of giving away an M (or a tote bag), maybe one of those great coffee table books by famous Leica users--- there are a bunch of good ones featuring Henri Cartier-Bresson or Alfred Eisenstaedt..........
 
It seems like the drive behind NEX and Fuji sites came from the increasing use of those cameras by users on SC. A Leica site wouldn't seem to have the same rationale - no reason not to do it of course. But it does raise the question if Leica why not Ricoh which a lot of folks on SC seem to use, or Sigma even?

I suppose one way to move it beyond the smallish group of Leica users would be to make it a Leica M Mount site and have forums for those using Leica (or Zeiss/Voigtlander/Contact etc) M mount lenses on other cameras.
 
Ed has a few great idea there. Should a forum that has room for an X1, an S1, and all the old film classics exist just because they all have the same brand name on them?

Does it become a rangefinder forum as well? And it that is the thrust of the website, do Leica point and shoots really belong there.

coffee table books sound AWESOME! I wish our house were big enough for a coffee table.
 
It seems like the drive behind NEX and Fuji sites came from the increasing use of those cameras by users on SC. A Leica site wouldn't seem to have the same rationale - no reason not to do it of course. But it does raise the question if Leica why not Ricoh which a lot of folks on SC seem to use, or Sigma even?

I suppose one way to move it beyond the smallish group of Leica users would be to make it a Leica M Mount site and have forums for those using Leica (or Zeiss/Voigtlander/Contact etc) M mount lenses on other cameras.

How about a site for Ricoh, Sigma and Leica. Sort of a site for compact cameras. Like, serious compact cameras.
 
I have a solution for that, Ed. Enjoy the book. Be thorough and enjoy it...and then keep it moving. I don't believe in owning books. If I keep one for a month, that's an eternity

I live with a bookseller and believe in keeping books, in piling them up in stacks when you run out of shelving space, of weeding through them about once every 10 years --- so that you can keep going to library book sales and buying them by the bag on the last sale day!! I have a first edition of a Voltaire (one of my heroes!) and would engage in mortal hand to hand combat in order to keep it. I want to see that binding and feel that wonderful paper as I lay dying -- and several times before that too! Walls of records, walls of books, let me know I'm home, safe in the company of Borges, Beethoven, Shakespeare, Jack Teagarten, Wittgenstien, John Adams. They say it about a gem that looks like glass to me, but books really are forever!

Nothin' personal Luke. Different strokes for different folks.
 
I live with a bookseller and believe in keeping books, in piling them up in stacks when you run out of shelving space, of weeding through them about once every 10 years --- so that you can keep going to library book sales and buying them by the bag on the last sale day!! I have a first edition of a Voltaire (one of my heroes!) and would engage in mortal hand to hand combat in order to keep it. I want to see that binding and feel that wonderful paper as I lay dying -- and several times before that too! Walls of records, walls of books, let me know I'm home, safe in the company of Borges, Beethoven, Shakespeare, Jack Teagarten, Wittgenstien, John Adams. They say it about a gem that looks like glass to me, but books really are forever!

Nothin' personal Luke. Different strokes for different folks.

Sounds like my mom's place ! She was writing herself for a living (now retired, but her daily e-mails are a mile long each, lol). I grew up surrounded by books. There was no digital print then (or anything virtual, for that matter), and we had a tactile and emotional bond with books, drawings, photographs, even music records. Though my mom (in her 80's !) has pretty amazingly adapted to internet, emails, text messages, etc, I would hate to see her deprived of her walls of books (actually the whole place is pretty much made of them). She gets new ones all the time, and cull unwanted ones from time to time. My husband, OTOH, grew up in a non reading home and I've NEVER seen him read. He's a happy man despite of that. To each their own. I do provide a lot of books for our 4 yr old, so she can get her own idea of whether they're essential to her, or not. Not pushing one way or the other.
 
Walls of records, walls of books, let me know I'm home, safe in the company of Borges, Beethoven, Shakespeare, Jack Teagarten, Wittgenstien, John Adams.
Nothin' personal Luke. Different strokes for different folks.

As a record store owner, I certainly understand your position. And very likely if it wasn't my profession, my walls would be lined with LPs. But I also see a LOT of people that are trapped by their possessions. They use them to define themselves. I think a little balance is good. And don't get me wrong. My intent is not to tell people how to live their lives. A good book or record is truly an inexpensive bit of culture and can make our lives richer (so don't forget to support your local record store and book seller):daz:
 
How about a site for Ricoh, Sigma and Leica. Sort of a site for compact cameras. Like, serious compact cameras.

I used to get emails all the time telling me that was what this site was supposed to be. That all these mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras didn't belong here.

As for the new site, I was thinking it would include anything bearing the Leica name plus anything that makes use of LTM or M lenses.

I think part of the "elitism" issue with any site can be real, but part of it is perception. There are some Leica snobs, but there are a lot of nice, down to earth Leica users/fans as well. When the GetDPI forum had a ton of Leica digital M users I was feeling left out of the fun because I couldn't spend enough to participate, but that wasn't elitism on their part - just my own inability to join that particular fun. When most of those Leica M users moved on to fun with digital medium format, I really couldn't follow with that :eek:. If we were making a new Leica site, I'm pretty sure there would be little to no real snobbery/exclusion going on there. When I look at our friends participating in the Leica M thread on this site, it's one of the nicest groups of photographers I've ever seen anywhere.

As for this site, I hear a lot of you saying that you like the other sites but would rather just spend your time here at S.C. I think there will always be some who find their way from the other sites to this one and feel exactly the same way as you do. Again, I see the other sites as good for this one rather than the other way around.

I may sound like I'm ready to go ahead with a Leica site, but I'm still very much on the fence. When I asked about starting a Fuji site, a lot of people were psyched about it. Doesn't seem like that would be the case with a Leica site. I know for a fact it wouldn't start off as quickly as FujiXspot has done so far. On the other hand, TalkNEX started very slowly and very gradually built in activity over the past year to get where it is now. Nothing wrong with that either.
 
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