Wish I Could Justify This

[TOM]

Great looking camera, didn't think anyone would release a camera like it. Looking through my gear wondering what I can sacrifice. Wish I had more gear so that I could sell it and buy one.

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-...-video-review/

[Clubmanmc]

do you have any kids?

M

[Tannin]

You'd have to be a freak to buy one of those. For starters, you'd need to have three kidneys. 6000 Euros is ... er ... about $9000. Hmmm ... maybe you'd need four kidneys.

But a very interesting idea just the same, and for those that fit into the niche, a very worthwhile one, I think Good link, Tom.

[TOM]

If it wasn't for the price it would be a good buy! I've never baulked at the price of Leica film cameras...my D3 and a couple of 2.8 zooms cost a lot more than an M and a couple of F2 lenses, and the depreciation on the film M bodies is manageable. But the M8 digital can now be had for a little over $2000, and that was a camera costing over $10,000 at launch only a few years ago!


Having said that, of all the cameras I've owned or shot with extensively, nothing handles as good for me as a Leica M camera. I've recently bought an Olympus PEN and a Fuji X100, in hope that they would be reasonable digital substitutes, but I have been left feeling cold. I guess if I wait a few years I can get myself a digital M at a reasonable price, but I want to take photos now! Guess I'll just have to learn to love the X100, but it aint gonna be easy.

[Arg]

If it wasn't for the price it would be a good buy!....

Quote of the month for me!

[Bennymiata]

Never having owned a Leica, I can't see the value of paying so much for so little.
But I guess there are plenty of people out there who do, otherwise they wouldn't be in business anymore.

I do tend to think that they are behind the times however, with their poor rear screens and Kodak sensors.
But as I haven't used one, maybe I'm missing out on something?

I do know that some of their cameras are just rebadged Japanese cameras at inflated prices, and I can't help thinking that most of ther cameras are just overpriced.

[I @ M]

Never having owned a Leica, I can't see the value of paying so much for so little.

Yeah, I agree Benny, the way sales are I reckon I could swing a great deal for a 6 litre HSV Crumpledore for much less money than an MX5 ------

But I guess there are plenty of people out there who do, otherwise they wouldn't be in business anymore.

At least for the next 3 months ----

I do tend to think that they are behind the times however, with their poor rear screens and Kodak sensors.

Dunno about the Kodak sensor bit, I think I read that they are using a CMOS sensor in that one, Kodak seem to have gone awol in any dept relating to photography anyway.
But as I haven't used one, maybe I'm missing out on something?

I do know that some of their cameras are just rebadged Japanese cameras at inflated prices, and I can't help thinking that most of ther cameras are just overpriced.

Yep, dentists, lawyers and real estate salesman with glass cabinets on prominent display at their cocktail parties will flock to them, but of course nobody who even knows the name Panasonic would be at one of their soirees anyway.

[Cage]

Just love your obtuse view of things Andrew.

You always say it how it is, should be, maybe, can't be, and never will be, without further clarification and obfuscation. (Ta Odille for that word)

Keep up the good work.

[danny]

Never baulked at the price... What about this one?

http://www.digitaltrends.com/photogr...95-any-takers/

I challenge your jaw not to drop when you read the price!

[TOM]

[QUOTE]

I've never baulked at the price of Leica film cameras.

[/QUOTE

........and that camera is not for photographers, it's for collectors. I'm not into that stuff, but I don't begrudge Leica for selling a camera at that price; they have a market for it. If you were any type of business man, in their position you wood do the same.

[danny]

Sorry.. Was only being a smart a#$e. I remember reading about that $30K camera a while ago and thought i would bring it up. :roll eyes:

Cheers

[swifty]

Leica is a business and like any business it has a strategy for staying in the game and make profits.
And it's doing pretty darn well.
Financials for several Japanese electronic giants just got released recently. I know those losses are multifactorial (including natural disasters in the previous year) but I highly doubt their millions of me-too compacts are doing them much favors, especially moving forward.

As Tom points out, Leica makes collector pieces and must make a tidy sum. Good for them.
They also continue to make excellent photographic tools. Good for us if u can afford it.

Personally I won't be buying any Leica digital product any time soon. But as digital sensor technology plateaus, and I think over the next few years the returns will be increasingly diminishing, it's relative value may improve since without a significant sensor advantage subsequent models won't bring too much to the table for an already highly refined product.
I think there's great value in purchasing Leica M film cameras now as long as you can afford the initial cost.

[dulvariprestige]

Never baulked at the price... What about this one?

http://www.digitaltrends.com/photogr...95-any-takers/

I challenge your jaw not to drop when you read the price!

That actually seems normal compared to this crap from Louis Vuitton

$150,000
http://womanoftheearth.blogspot.com....e-bag-its.html

[Bennymiata]

That LV bag looks like some junk bag made by a hipppie while on LSD.

I've been in the handbag business all my life, and I still can't work out why some women think that Louis Vitton bags are good value.
Most of them are just made from PVC coated canvas, although the leather trim is good.

Guess it's the same with Leica cameras...............................

[TOM]

That LV bag looks like some junk bag made by a hipppie while on LSD.

I've been in the handbag business all my life, and I still can't work out why some women think that Louis Vitton bags are good value.
Most of them are just made from PVC coated canvas, although the leather trim is good.

Guess it's the same with Leica cameras...............................

I was in Paris last year and was asked on the street to buy some LV bags for someone. LV limits the sale of its gear in Paris to certain people. Apparently these people take them back to their country and sell them, undercutting the local LV distributors. When I asked a local why these people ask other foreigners (tourists) to buy the bags for them, rather than just asking local Parisians, she replied "Because LV salespeople know that a Parisian wouldn't be caught dead with LV gear, it's considered gauche"!

[KeeFy]

"Because LV salespeople know that a Parisian wouldn't be caught dead with LV gear, it's considered gauche"!

Like how the Swiss people won't buy rolex.

BTW the 150k bag is not real. It's photoshopped.

[darylcheshire]

On a positive note, I was inspired to start taking B&W photos, something I've never done with any digital camera. I went out onto the beach at 6pm where it was almost dark and took some B&W with the 5D Mk III at a high ISO. The B&W almost offset the poor colour rendition where it where it was too dark to walk safely. I used a 50mm f/1.2L and felt like Cartier-Bresson for a minute.
(bearing in mind that what he used was probably the best in the 1950s)

Meaning that this Leica made me consider the dimension of black and white photography and I used the low light capabilities of the 5DMk III and took some photos. They are a bit grainy.

[Lantern]

do you have any kids?

Ha, you are either saying "If you have kids you cannot afford this thing." OR my interpretation "SELL the KIDS."