Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2013/06/26

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Subject: [Leica] Buying Leica.....
From: john at mcmaster.co.nz (John McMaster)
Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2013 23:23:29 +0000
References: <80F9701439F20347874CE5E4E03C22E9C56B8AF8@WhizzMAIL01.whizz.org> <7FD5C5EF-9AF6-4F57-B4F3-9B29E723F1AA@mac.com> <ECBCDC0FB09C4B3A8759BFEC2A31B8E8@jimnichols>, <CA+yJO1BcmEvobQFOd5bQ3ZJqmN5Q_+5Cfz7VAmiMbQpdfRg=oQ@mail.gmail.com>

Agreed, but that is with hindsight.

If you were buying now, with no experience of Leica, could you justify the 
cost over half a dozen 'disposable' Fujis? We are talking a couple of 
cameras and a few lenses so somewhere over 20K USD initial investment....

john
________________________________________


I also bought a Leica 40 years ago because I knew it would stand up under
all kinds of conditions that other cameras would not.  I still feel that is
true with my digital Leicas.  I don't know what the reason is, but I've
never had a problem with my digital cameras that wasn't fixed immediately
by Leica.  I dunked two M8s in a river, dried them by a fire, and they kept
working.  Maybe I'm just lucky when it comes to cameras but I still believe
in Leica.  I don't think I could have dunked my Canon 1DMII or 5D in a
river and still had them work.  I love the simplicity of the Leica menus,
buttons and knobs that I can use in the dark by feel.  I love rangefinder
focusing.  I love my old Leica lenses.  I would put up with a lot of quirks
to be able to use my old lenses full frame but I don't have to.  I'm a
happy camper.

Tina


On Wed, Jun 26, 2013 at 7:06 PM, Jim Nichols <jhnichols at 
lighttube.net>wrote:

> Hi George,
>
> You see things much the way that I do.  I bought my first Leica body and
> lens in 1952, probably much earlier than most on this list.  Though the
> IIIa was made in 1935, it had been serviced and had a new shutter when I
> got it. Though it definitely needs a CLA, it will make images, reliably, to
> this day.  That is what started my appreciation of Leica products.
>
> Their digital products seem to be built for a limited lifetime.  The two
> lines are entirely different, as I see them.  I have a difficult time
> "buying into" their current approach to digital camera bodies.
>
> Jim Nichols
> Tullahoma, TN USA
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "George Lottermoser" <imagist3 at 
> mac.com>
> To: "Leica Users Group" <lug at leica-users.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, June 26, 2013 5:55 PM
> Subject: Re: [Leica] Buying Leica.....
>
>
>
>
>> On Jun 26, 2013, at 5:25 PM, John McMaster wrote:
>>
>>  With hindsight I would still go Leica, nothing to touch the lenses for
>>> different looks and I prefer the simpler operation, but if I had not used
>>> them what would make me spend 'rather a lot' more on Leica than Fuji? 
>>> Does
>>> 'full frame' or the build quality make enough of a difference for the 
>>> price
>>> jump to most people?
>>>
>>
>> The piece of this "to Leica or not to Leica" quandary that throws me
>> is the relatively recent "lack of reliability and maintenance."
>> For over 30 years I KNEW that my Leicas would stand up to daily use;
>> be able to be CLA'd and maintained for the duration of my life.
>>
>> When the digital R path ended abruptly - doubt set in.
>>
>> Recent stories of lack of parts or repair paths for 5 year old cameras
>> seems totally unacceptable for "any" camera company;
>> let alone a high end, premium camera company.
>>
>> I expected that, what ever its flaws may be, that I could keep my M8
>> making photographs for as long as I chose to hang on to it;
>> just like every other Leica camera that came before it.
>>
>> The idea that $7K camera bodies are simply disposable hardware
>> with a useable life of a two year warranty - feels totally unacceptable
>> to me.
>> If not unacceptable - certainly unaffordable - to me.
>>
>> I'm coming from that place where the 50 year old Linhof Tech IV
>> I just sold works every bit as well the day I handed it to Forrest
>> as the day it left the factory.
>>
>> This whole new device, whether computer, camera body, phone
>> whatever - simply feels quite "wrong."
>>
>> I welcome technological advances and their concomitant costs;
>> while also expecting that if I choose to remain a couple generations back;
>> that high priced hardware continue to perform somewhere close to specs;
>> and be designed for adjustment back to original specs.
>>
>> Regards,
>> George Lottermoser
>> george at imagist.com
>> http://www.imagist.com
>> http://www.imagist.com/blog
>> http://www.linkedin.com/in/**imagist <http://www.linkedin.com/in/imagist>
>>
>>
>>


Replies: Reply from henningw at archiphoto.com (Henning Wulff) ([Leica] Buying Leica.....)
Reply from images at comporium.net (Tina Manley) ([Leica] Buying Leica.....)
In reply to: Message from john at mcmaster.co.nz (John McMaster) ([Leica] Buying Leica.....)
Message from imagist3 at mac.com (George Lottermoser) ([Leica] Buying Leica.....)
Message from jhnichols at lighttube.net (Jim Nichols) ([Leica] Buying Leica.....)
Message from images at comporium.net (Tina Manley) ([Leica] Buying Leica.....)