[Leica] Leica prices

[mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner)]

> I was told by a photographically interested economist that the cost of a
> Leica camera in the '30s was two weeks salary for the average working man.
> That is if he still had a job. The price stayed at approximately two weeks
> salary until the early '60s. It started to rise after that time until it is
> six weeks salary today. That is if the would be purchaser still has a job.
> 
> One of the attractions of the Leica in the early days was the high price. A
> Leica dangling from your wrist was a sign of affluence. I guess the
> marketing strategy hasn't changed in 80 years.
> 
> Larry Z
> 


I read that when the Rolleiflex came out in the 20;s it was a German
Postman's salary for several months; like six. And that was the 20's within
a few years of the Leica.
Of course the question is : what were the comparable costs between a
Rolleiflex and a Leica? I'd assume the Rolleiflex might cost more than a
Leica I with lens but don't know for sure.

[Rabs]
Mark William Rabiner