Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/08/02
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DonjR43198@aol.com wrote:
> If there is some percentage of parts farmed out and parts produced
in-house,
> maybe Mr. Puts would be so kind to provide a list of parts of the M-6 that
> are produced in-house by Solms and those that are produced by others than
> Solms. Then we might have an agreed upon basis for determining whether
Solms
> is a manufacturer of the M-6.
>
We need to realize that late 20th century manufactoring standards and
techniques are quite different from early 20th century standards and
techniques.
There are a number of industries including optics, aerospace, defense,
medical etc where acceptable tolerances are routinely measured in microns
not millimeters, and where manufacturers routinely purchase parts specified
to such tolerances from many vendors. Call it what you will: manufacturer or
assembler but your logic is not at all appropriate if the goal is to produce
a mechanism created to the highest standards, designed to operate under the
most severe conditions and to have a defined and long MTBF.
Would you fault E. Leitz for using Schott glass? Would you fault Solms
for using an IBM/Motorola or Intel microprocessor?
The reason that early and mid 20th century Leica cameras and lenses are
collectable today is that they were produced to the highest standards of the
time. Times change. Successful organizations change with it.
Jonathan Borden