Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/03/06

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Subject: RE: [Leica] Leicavit, After Market Products, etc.
From: "Austin Franklin" <darkroom@ix.netcom.com>
Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2003 18:27:31 -0500

Kit,

> Are you taking me to task for my use of the word "VERY"? Get real, man!
> Everyone else says that Tom's winder is VERY different from the old
> Leicavit, or the new Leicavit-M.

The INTERNAL DESIGN is very different than the OLD Leicavit, but that does
not make the actual product VERY different, much less a "different product",
as you said.

> Therefore the VERY
> different pricing.

And I do not believe that is the cause of the VERY different pricing.  I
believe the manufacturing costs are NOT very different, if manufactured by
the same entity, which is the only fair way to evaluate true manufacturing
costs.  Take one of each to a manufacturer and ask them what it would cost
to replicate them, and I bet you would not find much of a difference.

I believe the major cost difference is 1) Leica USA's "cut", 2) Leica prices
things high in general 3) Leica does have higher expenses than Tom and 4)
Leica, as an image, costs more to display...which is what I was saying, and
you didn't get, with my jest about the BMW, expensive hotel accommodations
and high priced dinners, the Leica "mystique" could not be maintained by a
Hyundai, Holiday Inn and Friendly's.

But, as I said, I am not going to simply pay more because of Leica's
business model.

>...but their form is VERY different, at least internally.

Form is external appearance, not internal design.  Because have some
internal component differences, that does not make them "very different" in
my book.  Is the early M6 VERY different from the late M6?  Their meters
have different circuits, and therefore the cameras are "different", but
hardly VERY different.  It's called unnecessarily using a "superlative" in
order to exaggerate a position/belief, which I believe is what you are
doing.

Austin

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