We are very sad to report the death of Michael Reichmann, founder of Luminous-Landscape.
Luminous-Landscape and dpreview.com came of age at around the same time. While we focused on lab testing and measured performance, Michael’s perspective was always that of a passionate photographer.
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| Michael Reichmann, founder of Luminous-Landscape has passed away aged 71. Photo by Nick Devlin, used with permission. |
I was a keen reader of Luminous-Landscape before I discovered DPReview (shhhh, don’t tell Phil), back when it seemed like almost every month brought a new paradigm shift in the quality of digital cameras. I still remember poring over Michael’s now-famous (and still controversial) study of Canon’s EOS D30 against Fuji Provia, in which he concluded that grainless 3MP digital files were in most respects superior to film.
Michael was a towering figure in the North American photography press, and a natural writer. His humility and sense of humor shone through his work on Luminous-Landscape and made him wonderful company. He’d seen it all before, and didn’t take any of it – certainly not himself – particularly seriously. In failing health, Michael spent the last year of his life focused on the Luminous-Endowment, a charitable fund that he set up to benefit photographers across the globe.
Just last week I enjoyed (re) reading his excoriating 2004 ‘non-review’ of the Contax N Digital, and I almost emailed him to see how he was doing. I wish I had. Michael will be missed by all of us at DPReview.
Tribute to Michael Reichmann on Luminous-Landscape.com
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)