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For you thoroughly metric Brits: can I presume that you still at least enjoy a pint while discussing how many stone Avril Lavigne is weighing these days?

I hope everybody understands that I'm/we're only asking for English measure to be added as a user-selectable option, and not replacing metric. It would be relative child's play to make it available--far easier than having my brain rewired.

--Rick
 
Well, we still order beer in pints, but the EU (European Union) tried to get us to change to litres. Weights are generally in kilograms though.

I think it's time you rewired your brain!
 
thanks for the metric measure suggestions, gents. I shall resume my search.

--Rick
 
Hi Rick (and all), I too need to have my brain rewired for dealing with metric measures. Well, actually, I do have a decent handle on temperature measurements in C, so I'm not completely untrainable ;) When I spent some time in Scotland, it was a lot of fun to go grocery shopping and see all the package labels in different units of measure. Cookbooks I brought back can be a challenge. However, while I was there, I started to assimilate because there was no turning back, I was surrounded by these new methods of measure. But, having returned home and not being exposed to the metric way of life, I have lost it. I think if we did a cold turkey switch to metric here in the US it would be easier to learn, since we'd be surrounded by it. As it is, if you start to figure it out, you're generally not exposed to it often enough to make practical use of it. -Lynn
 
Slightly older folk will recall a great push - to the best of my memory it was the late 70's/early 80's - in the US, for conversion to metric. There was a timetable for the changeover, and they mandated the addition of kilometers to speed-limit signs on the highways, and metering by liter on gasoline pumps was being phased in. It was a high priority in public education (at least in some states), and I think the death of the Imperial/Sterling systems and their American variants was predicted for something like 1990. I don't recall why the initiative failed, exactly, but in talking to younger folk educated during that era, they all seem to say they have little use for it (the metric system), in spite of the efforts of the schoolteachers during that era. Personally, I find the system useful for linear measure on a small scale ( In my work I use tenths of millimeters with a measuring magnifier), but for estimating greater distances as one does with scale focussing, I see things in feet, and the meter is too much at variance with the yard to go about it that way and still hope for a reasonable degree of accuracy (where my old American eyes are concerned). It's funny how US money has been metrical more or less all along, while some nations (e.g. Great Britain) retained arcane denominations until relatively recently, when the US is such a holdout as to the metric standards for measure. It's a different way of viewing the world, in a way. 13/16 of an inch. Go figure.
 
> [..Did you know the standard meter stick in the USA is 1 meter long by 1 inch wide and 1/4 inch thick.? I don't what it is in Europe...]
 
I don't think GM and Ford engineers are [sarcasm] clever enough [sarcasm] to figure out the metric system. I wonder if Daimler will force Chrysler to convert. Switching to metric equates re-tooling the assembly lines, which equates $$$. As for the tools manufacturing sector, it's more money for them to sell 2 systems instead of one. That's why I'll NEVER own an American car because I can't afford to buy an additional set of standard tools. ;-)
 
I don’t see how you can justify the idea that the US is Kyocera’s biggest market in the terms of this debate.

Using the G2 as an ex≤ it is a homogenous product and comes with multi-lingual instructions meaning that it could be shipped from the factory to anywhere in the world. If you created an Imperial version that displayed distances in feet & inches then you would be creating a new product that could only be viably shipped to (probably) 2 countries. I would dare to say that the world -wide market for the metric version through Europe and Asia would easily outweigh the Imperial version. It could also be questioned as to whether the cost of producing and distributing a second product would be reflected in increased sales over the current position. Again I would venture probably not.

Now being a thick Brit who’s only claim to fame is being able to focus in feet and metres:- Could someone please explain the benefits of having faster apertures than f2 on a rangefinder? I can see where the benefits are with a SLR in brighter viewing, but I cannot grasp why anyone should need f1.4 in a G series lens.

For the record I rarely take a shot wider than f5.6 (or should that be f five and three fifths?) and have just taken the decision to change from primes to Vario-Sonnars on the basis of convenience against a slight reduction in image quality and viewing brightness. But, on the wider picture I accept that the ever so slightly reduced depth of field given by these super fast lenses may be an advantage to some photographers though again this will be a greater benefit on a SLR as you can actually see the plane of focus.

Clive
 
.......and before anybody jumps down my throat - I am talking about image brightness in my RTSiii. I don't expect any difference in the G2.

Clive
 
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