[Leica] Re: Camera life

[lrzeitlin at optonline.net (Lawrence Zeitlin)]

I forgot to mention that the memory for the two oldest camera, the  
Logitech and the Agfa was self contained. When the memory was filled,  
you had to download the pictures before you could take new ones.  
Neither camera had a LCD display. Now that is really obsolete.

The memory cards for the Leica Digilux and the Fuji 6800 are the hard  
to obtain Smart Media. Even when you find these cards, capacity is  
limited. The Leica would handle no more than 64 MB cards, the Fuji,  
128 MB cards.

It doesn't matter how long the camera functions if the recording  
media is no longer obtainable. Try to buy 828, 127 or 620 film at  
WalMarts. Or for that matter Tri X at Walgreens. Moore's Law be damned.

Larry Z


On Jan 24, 2007, at 3:16 PM, lug-request@leica-users.org wrote:

> I don't really know about the trash bin. If you are content with the
> results, then you can continue to use old equipment until it
> crumbles, even electronics. I still use hi-fi equipment 30 years old
> and computers 10 years old, not to mention Leicas 50+ years old. But
> I get your point.
>
> As far as Moore's Law for digitals, I have been using consumer grade
> digital cameras for 17 years. In order of purchase I have:
>
> 1990 Logitech Fotoman B&W, .28 MB sensor, $200 cost, $714/MB
> 1994 Agfa E307, .68 MB sensor, $150 cost, $220/MB
> 1999 Leica Digilux Zoom, 1.3 MB sensor, $450 cost, $346/MB
> 2001 Fuji 6800, 3.3 MB sensor, $400 cost, $121/MB
> 2004 Canon S500, 5 MB sensor, $280 cost, $56/MB
> 2006 Olympus E500 SLR, 8 MB sensor, $500 cost, $62/MB
>
> Plotting this stuff on a statistics program, it appears that the
> sensor MB capacity is increasing almost exponentially, doubling every
> two or so years, while the cost per MB is dropping fairly rapidly. A
> check of the cameras on display at Best Buy shows that each MB now
> costs less than $50. Leica cameras are the outliers. Once the Leica
> nameplate goes on, regardless of who made the camera, the cost per MB
> rises over $100. The M8 costs $480/MB, about the same per pixel as
> the 1999 Leica Digilux Zoom.
>
> Of the six cameras listed, I still use only the last three. The
> Logitech and the Agfa are so far behind the technology curve and the
> image quality so poor that they are not worth the bother. The Leica
> Digilux, an otherwise excellent pocket camera, failed mechanically
> and will cost more than a new modern camera to repair. Again, using
> my very limited personal database as a reference, I can estimate that
> the useful life of a digital camera is about 6 years. On the other
> hand my 50+ year old Leicas function very well.
>
> Any comments?