Re: [Leica] Leica-Users List Digest V2 #140

[ray tai <razerx@netvigator.com>]

I wrote:

> 
> > What difference does it make who designed the body?  You buy into a
> > camera system for its lenses.  The camera body is merely a light proof
> > box.  Besides, if a Japanese camera company were to have anything to do
> > with the R8, my guess is that most of us would be SECRETLY relieved.
> > When was the last time any German company came up with an original all
> > German camera design?  Would anyone out there say Kyocera did a poor job
> > with Contax SLRs or the G2?  The G2 and the RTS III are proofs that this
> > German/Japanese alliance can be a good thing!

Christian wrote:
> 
> Before Lucien comments on this comment, let me just say that Kontax bodies are
> not german/japanese but entirely japanese.
> And by the way it does not make a difference for the USER where parts of a body
> come from, but it seems to make a big image difference (for POSERS) - maybe some
> out there have not kept up with development and still believe german-build is
> better build.
> 


I don't think Contax bodies are entirely Japanese because the very
purpose for their existence is to interface with Contax (German)
designed lenses.  The Japanese should stick with what they do best which
is high tech, solid bodies and Contax should stick with their state of
the art lens design.  This is what I meant by German/Japanese alliance. 
According the reviews, each and every Contax G lens is ALMOST comparable
to Leica M in performance but at half the price. I own the G2 and it is
an amazingly well made titanium camera. 

My M4-2 is made in Canada and I use it the most.  I agree many
Leica-philes has this German superiority complex, but reality is that it
is the yuppies who are buying up M Leicas for their glass cases and in
effect this demand for the Leica mystique stalls the evolution of the M
system.  For the people like us who actually use M rangefinders, we
would like to see the next 25 years of Leica M innovations to amount to
more than just a built-in meter of the past 25 years. 

Just my $ .02.

Ray