Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/02/18
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your opinion, the M7 uses an upgraded form of the standard Leica cloth shutter. Marvelous unit but it requires meticulous hand assembly and adjustment. So yes they saved some money on having only a few mechanical controls as compared to a standard M but there is still a lot of expense in them thar shutter hills. The ubiquitous vertical shutter assembly is easily mass manufactured and sold as a ready to go unit. How do you spell cheap like borsch? I agree completely that that the cost of the metering assembly would be minimal when compared to the viewfinder and shutter assemblies. I do want a digital M but I think it is the only thing that is going to save Leica. John Collier On 18-Feb-05, at 12:44 AM, Frank Dernie wrote: > My guess is that the bulk of the manufacturing cost of a Leica is in > the rangefinder, shutter mechanics and the mechanical precision of the > film to lens register. The meter probably is <5% of the cost. > Precision mechanics is still very expensive to make, electronics gets > cheaper by the day. I would be prepared to bet that a M7 is much > cheaper to make than a M6 and only is premium priced because it is the > latest model and has a "new" feature AE. > Frank > > On 18 Feb, 2005, at 01:21, mak@teleport.com wrote: > >> Great point and my point exactly >> >> could I live without a meter (yes) without AE (duh) without TTL >> flash (yes) >> >> If it offered significat cost savings an M4-2 or M4-P would be fine >> for me for 90% of my photos... >> >> The MP is $2500 because Leica thought they could get $2500 much the >> same hubris that Apple suffered from...