Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/11/27
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]This is a multi-part message in MIME format. - ------=_NextPart_000_0034_01BF38C6.4126B8C0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable To all, I'm just back to California from two weeks in Tokyo and thought I'd post = a short report on what I found camera-wise. The US dollar is down about 20% since my last visit and coupled with = higher Japanese prices for used Leicas, the prospects were dim for a = shopping American tourist. I visited quite a few of the little shops = that deal almost exclusviely in used Leicas. M bodies were all well over = $1,000. Many chrome bodies (M2s, M3s, M4s, and M6s) were well over = $2,000. Anything black carried a premium. Black M4s (both black chrome = and black paint) were to be had at prices generally over $5,000!!! Also = carrying outrageously high prices (from a U.S. perspective) were things = like metal viewfinders, MR meters, and lens hoods. As I've noted before, = new Leica accessories (like most 35mm accessories) are generally less = expensive there than in the U.S. Faced with these kind of prices I caved in to technology and picked up = the newish Fuji MX-2700 digital camera. It's very much like the new = Leica Digilux (which is clearly based on, if not identical to the Fuji = MX-1700). The MX-2700 lacks the 3x optical zoom, but has a higher = maximum resolution at 2.3 mega pixels. I'm still playing around with it = and would be happy to discuss it's use at a later time with anyone = interested. I also picked up a full brochure on the new Konica Hexar, but it's in = Japanese which I don't read. Maybe I can get Ken Iisaka to translate = anything important from it and report back here. It's supposed to go on = sale in December. Then, with only a few days left in town, I stopped by Lemon Camera and = they'd just taken in an old black and brassy (non-original finish) M3 = that I couldn't resist. Because the owner was looking to turn it quickly = on consignment it was reasonably priced and I bought it. As a side note, the next day - Thanksgiving - I was sitting in a cafe = having a Tokyo cup of coffee (meaning $4.50) when I was startled by a = familiar sounding voice sitting next to me. It was Eric Clapton. When I = told him I recognized his voice and that I'd always enjoyed his work, = his response was, looking at the battered M3, "nice camera." Nice guy, = very congenial, interested in cameras, but not very interested in having = his picture taken. As in my frequent previous visits, I again found Tokyo to be a wonderful = city for photographers. Opportunities abound and the people are = generally cooperative and friendly.=20 Bryan - ------=_NextPart_000_0034_01BF38C6.4126B8C0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Dwindows-1252" = http-equiv=3DContent-Type> <META content=3D"MSHTML 5.00.2614.3401" name=3DGENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2>To all,</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2>I'm just back to California from two weeks in Tokyo = and=20 thought I'd post a short report on what I found = camera-wise.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2>The US dollar is down about 20% since my last visit = and=20 coupled with higher Japanese prices for used Leicas, the prospects were = dim for=20 a shopping American tourist. I visited quite a few of the little shops = that deal=20 almost exclusviely in used Leicas. M bodies were all well over $1,000. = Many=20 chrome bodies (M2s, M3s, M4s, and M6s) were well over $2,000. Anything = black=20 carried a premium. Black M4s (both black chrome and black paint) were to = be had=20 at prices generally over $5,000!!! Also carrying outrageously high = prices=20 (from a U.S. perspective) were things like metal viewfinders, MR = meters,=20 and lens hoods. As I've noted before, new Leica accessories (like most = 35mm=20 accessories) are generally less expensive there than in the = U.S.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2>Faced with these kind of prices I caved in to = technology and=20 picked up the newish Fuji MX-2700 digital camera. It's very much like = the new=20 Leica Digilux (which is clearly based on, if not identical to the Fuji = MX-1700).=20 The MX-2700 lacks the 3x optical zoom, but has a higher maximum = resolution at=20 2.3 mega pixels. I'm still playing around with it and would be happy to = discuss=20 it's use at a later time with anyone interested.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2>I also picked up a full brochure on the new Konica = Hexar, but=20 it's in Japanese which I don't read. Maybe I can get Ken Iisaka to = translate=20 anything important from it and report back here. It's supposed to go on = sale in=20 December.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2>Then, with only a few days left in town, I stopped = by Lemon=20 Camera and they'd just taken in an old black and brassy (non-original = finish) M3=20 that I couldn't resist. Because the owner was looking to turn it quickly = on=20 consignment it was reasonably priced and I bought it.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2>As a side note, the next day - Thanksgiving - I was = sitting in=20 a cafe having a Tokyo cup of coffee (meaning $4.50) when I was startled = by a=20 familiar sounding voice sitting next to me. It was Eric Clapton. When I = told him=20 I recognized his voice and that I'd always enjoyed his work, his = response was,=20 looking at the battered M3, "nice camera." Nice guy, very=20 congenial, interested in cameras, but not very interested in having = his=20 picture taken.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2>As in my frequent previous visits, I again found = Tokyo to be a=20 wonderful city for photographers. Opportunities abound and the people = are=20 generally cooperative and friendly. </FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2>Bryan</FONT></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML> - ------=_NextPart_000_0034_01BF38C6.4126B8C0--