I bought a subscription to Leica Fotographie International Magazine through Tamarkin roughly one year ago. As many of you probably know, its an expensive but very well done magazine. I've found that I read it cover to cover, much like National Geographic.

Anyway, I was wondering if any of you have subscribed to this? And if so, will I receive a renewal notice through the magazine? Or will I suddenly stop receiving it and have to go through Tamarkin again?

Does anyone know if the magazine has a web-site or e-mail (we've all gotten so spoiled with the 'net, haven't we?).

Thanks for the info... Keith

-- Keith W. Cooper,MD (drcooper@swbell.net), April 24, 2002

Answers

P.S. Does anyone have an opinion of how the magazine I mentioned above compares to "Leica World"? I've never seen one...

Thanks again, Keith

-- Keith W. Cooper,MD (drcooper@swbell.net), April 24, 2002.

IMP Leica World is a much better magazine. I have Leica Fotographie going back to 1978 and have found that the quality has gone downhill. Reproduction is spotty (especially B&W) and the articles are very dryly written. As well, I find the photography (seldom pro work) to be not of a quality I would expect. Leica World on the other hand is very well produced and printed, is a larger format, and usually has interestng articles on at least one well known Leica shooter per issue. It is my understanding that Leica World is published by Leica AG, while Leica Fotographie is published by a seperate entity.

-- Bob Todrick (bobtodrick@yahoo.com), April 24, 2002.

I gave up on Leica Fotographie because I think it's poorly written and uninteresting. While it may be interesting to some to gather 'round the logographics of a particular brand of camera, I've always been more interested in the resultant photographs rather than the equipment per se. Don't get me wrong, I like high-end equipment as much as the next guy, but at some time I believe that one has to get beyond the logo and create photos. To that end, I now subscribe only to magazines that are about the photo, without any mention whatsoever about f/stops, camera brand, film used, etc. There are very few of these magazines on the market that aren't hawking the latest "must-have" body/lens/gadget, but what a pleasure it is to look at excellent photographs, unobstructed by advertising and other visual distractions. In that vein, check out the Italian magazine "Zoom International" (www.zoom-net.com), "Aperture" (for the most part), and "Lens World", to name just a few. Of these three, "Zoom" publishes the broadest spectrum of photographs (and, thus, photographers) of any publication on the market. Take a look.

-- Cosmo Genovese (cosmo@rome.com), April 24, 2002.

My favorite is LensWork out of Washington state. www.lenswork.com

-- Ken (kennyshipman@aol.com), April 24, 2002.

I meant "LensWork" (not "Lens World").

-- Cosmo Genovese (cosmo@rome.com), April 24, 2002.

Keith, the subscription is automatically renewed one month before expiration time, if you supplied credit card info and it's still valid. Otherwise you'll hear from them, if they have any way to contact you. For any info you can just call them+49.69.26000, they speek good enough English.

Alex

-- Alex ferraris (alcav@tin.it), April 24, 2002.

Keith, I had a subscription to LFI in the late 90's but gave it up. I got the English version and the translation was fairly accurate but drained of any literary style making the articles seem sterile and superficial...or perhaps they were that way in German to begin with, I wouldn't know. The articles were kind of pointless and uninformative and many but not all the galleries were less than outstanding. I find the LHSA Viewfinder more stimulating, at least the articles are usually opinionated enough to either please me or rile me up--depending on whether or not I agree with the author's opinion ;>) And they don't try to pass off the photography as gallery-quality art to be in awe of...it's photos my Leica enthusiasts, some good some, well...not so good, but even then you can feel the love for the Leica come through. I have not seen Leica World, only Leica View, which is basically an informercial from Leica USA. As of a few years ago the LFI publisher did send renewal notices--I got several before they understood I didn't want it anymore.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), April 24, 2002.

I have to vote for Leica World also, it's much better then LFI in my book.

There is also a new Photo magazine coming out you might want to check out. They have been on line, and are now going paper....it's a new magazine of photojournalism

www.foto8.com

-- Bill Barton (wbill@bellatlantic.net), April 24, 2002.

I just shelled out nine bucks for the April 2002 issue of Leica Fotografie. What do I see but an article that leads off with, "Zoom lenses are considered superior to fixed focal lengths . . . two or three groups of elements are displaced along the optical axis, providing an additional means of correction." And later on: "The effort to mamage with a minimum number of elements is rewarded by higher image contrast and better light transmission." Signed, Erwin Puts.

This article manages to create the impression that zoom lenses are optically better than primes. Amazing, what you can do with language. I thought I'd like the entertainment of reading Leica Fotografie, but I don't like being mislead by thinly disguised ads in the form of articles.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), April 24, 2002.

I recently ordered a subscription through Tamarkin to LFI. I cancelled after the 1st issue! (which came after over 2 months!)

-- pat (modlabs@yahoo.com), April 25, 2002.

Like Bob, I just picked up the April issue of LFI (thanks for the tip, Andy Piper). Once I got home and started to peruse the magazine I became totally underwhelmed by its content. Part infomercial, part National Geographic wannabe, yet lacking any substantive detail.

Another quote which caught me off-guard: "A compact telephoto lens, such as the 90mm f/2 Summicron-M ASPH, is perfect for snapshots. You simply need to know how to use it correctly - and a little practice." A whole paragraph describes the steps one needs to go through to make the lens 'perfect for snapshots'. I love the lens, but whose plonker do they think they're pulling?

To be fair, I did learn one factoid from the magazine - the origin of 'M', which stands for Messsucher, which we're told translates as 'rangefinder'. I always wondered where Leica came up with the naming convention for their cameras.

But that doesn't justify $9 an issue. Editorially, it's below par compared with the airlines' in-flight magazines. At least those are free, and the airlines know they have a captive audience. I'm off to find out whether Leica World is any better.

...stepping off my soapbox...

-- Stuart Dorman (stuart.dorman@us.pwcglobal.com), April 25, 2002.

I consider LF promotional material- on which I don`t spend my money.

The translation is poor, the editor and/or authors (very often nameless) cannot be questioned etc etc.

To everyone his/her taste, it`s not my choice. Was OK in the 60`s.

-- dr Hans Berkhout MD (berkhout@cadvision.com), April 25, 2002.