With respect to mid-fi, I believe that you are unlikely to hear much
difference among the brands. The difference relates more to fit, finish and
feel, and to reliability, and therefore there are no "levels" within mid-fi,
but rather a continuum: as the price rises, so does fit, finish, feel and
reliability. Within the continuum, people may have different preferences
with respect to layout and appearance, and be willing to pay more because of
a certain "feel", but no of these has much of an impact on the sound.
Similarly, I believe the same to be true of 35mm cameras. Clearly, a Leica
is at the top of the range because, as reflected in its cost, its fit,
finish, feel and reliability are unsurpassed, but you are unlikely to be
able to tell any difference between a photograph taken with it and a
photograph taken with a Canon, Nikon, or Olympus.
Given that the visual (or sound) results are going to be the same, choice of
camera or mid-fi component largely gets down to preference. We prefer
Olympus cameras because they are small and elegant. Another person may
prefer Nikon, probably because they fit better in his larger hands.
Similarly, another person may prefer a fully automated, autofocus camera.
He is also likely to like lots of buttons, knob and dials on his audio
equipment.
As a previous poster noted, Olympus and B&O may be a particularly good
analogy. Both are small and elegant, have good fit, finish and feel, and
are reliable.
With respect to high-end, you are taking a leap in the quality of the
resulting sound, much as you would if you moved to a large format camera.
I will now step down from my soapbox and return to "focusing" on my cameras.
-----Original Message-----
From: jpendley@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:jpendley@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2000 5:38 PM
To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [OT] hifi was:[OM] Lens Test - Long and Opinionated
It's a little tough for me to see both Toshiba, etc. and Leica as
"mid-fi." Where, if at all, does MF fit into your scheme? Would you
make two levels of "high-end" or three of "mid-fi"? Just curious.
John P.
Frank Berryman wrote:
>
> low cost = throw-a ways at the low end and point and shoots at the upper
> end.
>
> mid-fi = 35mm SLR/rangefinders and interchangeable lens;
> Yashica, Konica, Miranda, etc. at the low end and Canon, Nikon, Olympus
and
> Leica at the upper end
>
> high-end = large format
>
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