FW: [Leica] How to support Leica?

[Greg.Chappell@bankofamerica.com]

But..... Will the owner of a Nikon F5 be able to have his camera repaired in
2010? Will he even still own it in 2010? The answers are 1. maybe, maybe
not, and 2. No. By 2010 he/she will have bought the F6, F7, F8, and maybe
F9.

Canon, of course, will have introduced an entirely new camera line, which
will obsolete all EOS cameras & lenses, pissing off another generation of
photographers.

- -----Original Message-----
From: Chappell, Greg 
Sent: Tuesday, October 12, 1999 3:02 PM
To: 'leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us'
Subject: FW: [Leica] How to support Leica?


When I say you said the same thing, I meant to say it "sticks in your craw"
that you have to pay the same thing for a mechanical hand-built no-frills
camera that you'd pay for a technically marvelous (although outdated by,
lets say next year) Nikon F5 or Canon EOS (just name the model, there's too
many). Mark said that in his original post & you only backed it up, in a
stronger sense, of course. 

If Nikon ever re-introduced any type of form of the SP, or if Canon ever did
the same with a 7s, you'd probably see the price in the same range as their
"techno-marvels" if only due to the higher costs, and much smaller market
share such a product would attract.

- -----Original Message-----
From: Chappell, Greg 
Sent: Tuesday, October 12, 1999 2:48 PM
To: 'leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us'
Subject: RE: [Leica] How to support Leica?


B.D., I think you just said what Mark said.

- -----Original Message-----
From: B. D. Colen [mailto:bdcolen@earthlink.net]
Sent: Tuesday, October 12, 1999 10:18 AM
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: RE: [Leica] How to support Leica?


 A Leica M cost the same as other top
> cameras, the Canon
> and Nikon.
> It just sticks is the craw of people to get a hand built low
> tech camera without
> the wiz bang of the High tech SLR's.
> But in all other ways it is a remarkable analogy. An ongoing
> dream for me.
> Mark Rabiner

Come on, Mark...I preface what follows by saying that I think the M is a
fabulous camera...but...In reality the M is MUCH more expensive than the F5
or the EOS. For the price of an EOS or F5 one gets a solid, dependable,
single-lens reflex camera that can be used as either an auto focus or a
manual focus, with shutter speeds to, what, an 8000th of a second, built-in
motor drives, an extremely wide array of excellent autofocus and manual
lenses, terrifically versatile and accurate metering systems, and about a
zillion accessories.

For roughly the same money Leica gives you an extremely well built,
dependable, rangefinder, manual focus camera with a cloth shutter with a top
speed of 1000th of a second, a flash sync speed of a 60th, a choice of
eight lens focal lengths and a couple of additional choices in lens speed...

Is the M a terrific camera? Yes. Am I willing to pay what Leica charges?
Obviously I am, as I now have two M6s. But am I getting the value for my
money that someone purchasing an F5 is getting? I don't think so. The M6 is
the much more expensive camera.

B. D.