[Leica] RE: Country of origin

["Roger Beamon" <roger@beamon.org>]

Yes, and thank you for thanking Erwin. Much appreciated!

Roger Beamon


> Thank you, Erwin.  As always, gratitude is due!
> 
> Art Peterson
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Erwin Puts [mailto:imxputs@knoware.nl]
> Sent:	Wednesday, November 29, 2000 1:27 PM
> To:	L U G
> Subject:	[Leica] Country of origin
> 
> The current discussion about the country of origin of the M6 and
> the additional value this information might have for the consumer,
> that is user/buyer of the camera, can be approached from different
> perspectives. I fully agree with Ted and others who argue that the
> CoO is irrelevant for the process of taking photographs. If the
> camera functions as specified and delivers the goods, what extra
> info can be gleaned from the fact that the camera is made in
> Portugal, Solms or Dresden? Nothing at all. THis is the same as
> the obsession with the manufacturer of the glass, that is used in
> Leica lenses. Is a Leica lens less worth when it has glass.
> manufactured by Hoya (Japan), Corning (France) or Schott
> (Germany). And who is aware of the fact  that many glass types
> from Schott are manufactured in Malaysia? Is it then in the
> interest of the general consumer to know the CoO of every part and
> the locations of the assembly and quality control? It would only
> matter if you can claim that the origin of manufacture and/or
> assembly has a statistically relevant impact on qulaity and
> quality assurance. Bill has listed the origin of some of the parts
> and some of the assembly locations. More could be added and
> presented in more detail.  But it is indeed irrelevant. The
> consumer buys a product and pays for the quality. If the shutter
> gears, according to original Solms specs should be made of
> material X and be machined to a tolerance of a thousands of an
> inch and checked to ensure it has these values, why should it be
> deemed important where that check is done and who produces the
> steel for the gear? Most socalled Swedish steel, used by Volvo and
> Saab (and in their advertising!), is made in Holland at the
> Hoogovens plant in IJmuiden! If one would dare to  presume that
> German workers generally do better than their Portuguese
> collegues, I would challenge anyone to prove it or be accused of
> xenophobia! Knowing the meticulous quality and great pride of the
> Portuguese workers at the Leica plant, I would sense it as very
> insulting that someone could assume that these men mand women
> would be inferior to the mythical German quality workers. And if
> fact: IT IS NOT TRUE!!!!!! Portuguese quality is as good, if not
> better than German quality. To answer the original  question: who
> would benefit from the knowledge of the country of origin? It is
> the dealer of second hand cameras. If one could say with
> certainty: Leica M6 cameras till serial number 1.234.567are Solms
> made and after that production shifted to Portugal, I am sure that
> in an instant those cameras with <#1.234.567 would be priced at a
> premium by any dealer as being of higher value. Just as has
> happened with M3 bodies with serial number above 1.100.000, that
> are assumed to be the pinacle of mechanical Leica quality. I have
> NEVER read any serious analysis, why this should be true and after
> numerous visits to the factory, where  this question has been
> discussed in extenso, I still do not know, nor does the factory
> itself. This is a myth that will benefit only two parties:
> collectors and sellers. And so does the info about the origin of
> production, (As Bill as exemplified: a very vague concept in
> itself) of M6 bodies. The myth of any superiority of production
> origin suits the seller and collector, not the user. It might be
> useful to know the origin of a product if we know for sure that
> there is a quality difference. But in the case of Portugal versus
> Solms or Wetzlar, this difference does not exist and I challenge
> everyone to bring conclusive proof of the contrary! Is it then in
> the interest of the consumer to know the origin. From a view of
> playing games like Trival Pursuit: by all means. From a
> consumer/user/buyer perspective: not relevant at all. The "Made in
> ..." has an interesting origin. In the Industrial Age (around
> 1870) British products were superior to anything made elsewhere.
> So when the Germans started to manufacture industrial goods, the
> English forced them to indicate the "made in germany" on their
> products as a sign of inferior quality, as we westerners generally
> laughed at any product that had the sign "made in Japan"  and we
> now are suspect when a product says "made in China". Old habits
> never die. or so it seems. The alleged quality differences between
> German and Canadian lenses. between Wetzlar and Solms M bodies,
> between Solms and Portugal R bodies, between German and Japanese
> manufactured lenses only serve one purpose: produce smoke screens
> to make the consumer insecure!
> 
> 
> Erwin
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>