Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/02/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 01:20 PM 2/21/03 -0500, bdcolen wrote: >The end of what, fer Gd's sake? At this point there is NO wholly >mechanical Leica being manufactured. So if that is your standard, the >end has come and gone already. And if it has, I find it odd that >screaming masses of photographers haven't started throwing themselves >from buildings yet. The issue, BD, is longevity, something which someone of your apparent youth might not appreciate. There is a true system approach from Leitz between 1922 and 1982, with many gizmos from one year fitting cameras made years before or years afterwards. (For example, my M6 Wetzlar will take Leitz film cassettes and all Visoflex goodies.) This approach eroded in the 1980's and, today, is toast. My M3 will be repairable to the end of time, so long as I can find someone to make a gear or two for me. An M7 will die when the electronics are no longer available -- and, judging by Canon and Nikon standards, this will be within a decade or so. There is nothing wrong with 'modern' cameras. There is something sad, though, when the last all-mechanical 35mm rangefinder (other than the FED-5 and -5B and -5S, if they are still being made) passes on. An era has passed. Leica SHOULD have been advertising their M6 as a camera repairable for decades to come but failed to do this. Thus, we are stuck with a 'disposable' M7 which is a nice enough camera, for the all of it, but which has no predictable longevity. Marc msmall@infi.net FAX: +276/343-7315 Cha robh bąs fir gun ghrąs fir! - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html