[LRflex] Re: New Subscriber Introduction

Dear Mike,

Wonderful (especially underwater! )photography

Yours sincerely

L.Vermeiren
----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Liu" <mliu92@xxxxxxxxx> 
To: <leicareflex@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2008 5:23 AM
Subject: [LRflex] New Subscriber Introduction



Hi,
As a new subscriber who happily spent a few hours this evening going back through some older posts I thought I'd send out a message introducing myself. I'm 32 years old and work at a nuclear power plant near our home in San Diego as a procurement engineer, resolving technical issues with replacement goods and parts (lately, mostly ball valves). My first experience with photography was building a pinhole camera using a Kodak 126 cartridge, back when Kodak would send you those plans for free (and they made 126 film), moving on to my brother's 110 camera and finally, after much cajoling, my dad's Canon FTb.
However, in college I picked up a whole new Nikon habit after getting an F (plain eyelevel prism) and a non-AI Nikkor-S 50 f/1.4; there was a happy confluence of events and I went on to write a website about the Nikon F and F2 back around 1996-98 when I was pursuing a graduate degree. My advisor would probably say that I spent too much time (and stipend money -- I lived on spaghetti for two years) on such pursuits, but I ended up acquiring quite a fair range of prime Nikkors, 15-600mm, and an equally insatiable thirst for knowledge on lens design. This eventually culminated in getting digital bodies to fit the lenses I had -- again, finances dictated in 2006 that I go after the obsolescent Kodak DCS 600-series.
They were big and clunky, and I found myself really starting to hate taking them anywhere ... but when they worked well, the Kodak sensor truly gave impressive results. And later, I found myself with a Panasonic DMC-LC1 bought cheaply because of sensor failure; it came back from Panasonic service and I was entranced by the quality of its lens. Hmm. Lei-ca. Surely, Kodak sensors and Leica glass might be a magic bullet for me, then?
Fast forward to now, and I'm finding myself making reasons to go out with the Olympus E-1 I traded the Kodak DCS 660 for, with an old (Series VI) 35mm Elmarit-R attached to it. And I tell myself that the Nikkors are still pretty decent (and cheaper, at least -- the 80~200 f/4 Nikkor is a reasonable performer, and at the $50 it ran me, I have no complaints), but I still walk out the door with one of the two red-dot lenses attached (the other, a 60mm Macro-Elmarit-R) most days. I actually find it quite liberating to stick with a single lens and focal length lately. 

Cheers,
Mike

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mliu92
(most of the photos since late March, with the exception of the tele photos, taken with one of the two Leicas on the E-1; comments and criticism welcomed) 




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