[Leica] Commutative M7

[woc2 at earthlink.net (Bill O'Connell)]

As I mentioned a while back, next year will be the 50th anniversary of the
Porsche Club of America and I had been working on a limited edition camera
for the event.  At first we were going to make it with a 50mm f2 lens but it
was later decided that many folks would not be interested in the lens
especially with the current relationship of the dollar to the Euro so the
final version will either be just a body or perhaps a body with a limited
edition silver 50 1.4.  The price with the 50 is almost double due to
manufacturing costs and as such, unless those that have more knowledge put
up a strong case for doing it, it's unlikely to be done with the lens.

The body will be chrome with the leather embossed to look like carbon fiber.
The top plate will have he 50th anniversary Porsche Parade logo engraved on
it, along with the number of the edition and the limit of the edition.  It
will come in a presentation box with certificates, etc. Current thought is
to produce 100 of them.  Normally about 1,000 to 1,500 people are registered
for parades (member and spouse/associate member, etc) and there are over
50,000 members in the club.  Because it's the 50th anniversary it is
expected that there will be many more this year.

The cameras will be offered first to the people that register for the parade
to be held in Hershey PA in June of 05, then to the members of the Porsche
Club of America.  The body only version will have a MAP of $4,200 and the
body/lens package is $8,500.

As my first foray into this side of the Leica world, any constructive input
is most welcome.

Should you wish to chat offline use woc2@earthlink.net

Thanks,
Bill