Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/12/25
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For Christmas, a very dear friend gave me the "Complete National
Geographic" set on 30 CD-ROMs. After installing the enhanced 100
megabyte index (!), I did a search on the word "Leica". The
super-speedy search engine returned a list of 116 Leica ads from the
late 1920's through 1961 (with a conspicuous 11-year gap between 1938
and 1949). Absolutely fascinating reading ("Leica cameras start at
$60.00 ..."). I particularly enjoyed the ad introducing the M-3 with
dual-range Summicron f2 for $438. How things have changed.
Aside from the ads, the NG set is a real treasure trove. It contains
scans of every page from 1888 through 1996 (I expect I will have read
every article before the R8 motor is released). The interface is a bit
clunky, control over printing is limited and the text isn't always
legible but the photos look fine and the search engine is excellent. At
$200, not a bad deal.