Re: [Leica] Leicavit, After Market Products, etc.

[John Collier <jbcollier@shaw.ca>]

Sorry Kit,

Tom's product is completely different internally from the original 
Leicavit and much better too for that matter. The new Leicavit follows 
Tom's line of thought and also has no connection to the original. Let's 
face it, the price must mostly come down to Leica having a much higher 
profit margin. The only debt Tom owes to the original design is that if 
there was no original Leicavit or Winder-M, there would be no body 
coupling.

John Collier

On Thursday, March 6, 2003, at 12:09 PM, Kit McChesney | acmefoto wrote:

> With MORE all due respect to everyone, including Tom, there is one 
> factor
> that we haven't actually factored into this equation: Tom's products 
> would
> not exist in their current configuration (if at all) had Leica not 
> invested
> in R&D in the original Leicavit product when it was first introduced. 
> That
> fact may or may not be relevant now, but it is true that it would be 
> much
> easier for one to take apart an existing product and remanufacture or
> improve upon the original design, than to make a totally new design,
> completely from scratch. There is engineering and design time and 
> investment
> in the original product that is absent from the manufacture of the
> redesigned product made by an after-market concern. Not only that, but 
> there
> is a tremendous investment in the total product line, with hundreds of 
> items
> from lenses to cameras to parts ad infinitum, that is absent from the 
> small
> after-market operation. Every Leica product that is currently 
> manufactured
> is part of a manufacturing matrix, a web of products that are 
> interconnected
> in thousands of different ways, both in design and in overall cost to
> create. Don't forget all that.

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