Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/07/06
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]> If twenty fat cat tourists walk into your favourite > Leica shop and all buy M6HMs with 35/1.4 ASPH and Kodak Gold, > and then proceed to take holiday snaps, what has that got to > do with the ability, skill, craft, interest, knowledge, or > hair colour of the people on this list? Perhaps it doesn't matter initially. What I would worry about is something like this: when a camera manufacturer realizes that most of its customers are collectors or non-serious (undemanding) photographers, then they will almost unconsciously cater to that market. Quality control and reliability will diminish, gimmicks and cosmetic features will increase. Granted, this has *not* happened with Leica. REPLY: Of course it has. What do you think the "collector" cameras are all about? Leica knows full well that many of its customers are looking for exclusivity and collectability, rather than world-class photo images. I don't think that the manufacturing quality has changed because of that, nor do I see anything wrong with someone who can afford it using an M-6 as a glorified P&S. On the other hand, I think that the Leica pricing has turned the camera into a collectible and toy for the rich. As we all discuss our "ideal" M, I can't help wondering why Leica couldn't team up with someone like Kyocera to mass produce a good quality electronic feature-laden M-Mount camera that might take a new line of Kyocera-built (read cheaper) autofocus lenses, and also mount the manual focus M lenses?