Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/07/06
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]>>>>>>>>>> I really don't see how an electronic M camera could be cheaper. If you consider that the new camera would have loads of R& D at 1998 prices versus early 1980's for the M6. I suppose if you had it made "off shore" you could reduce the cost of manufacture. Would the M customer want a non-German M camera? I was told a couple of years ago that if the CL was manufactured today that it would cost more than the M6! I would venture to say that a new electronic camera would cost about the same as the M6. <<<<<<<<<< I suspect a properly designed electronic camera could be produced less expensively by automating the assembly process. If memory serves, this was part of the reason Nikon replaced the hand-assembled F2 wth the electronic F3 nearly 20 years ago. Hand-assembly was becoming too expensive. By replacing mechanical timers, levers and gears with electronics, an automated assembly process could reduce their internal production cost. I'm assuming that the M6 is largely hand-assembled due to its mechanical construction. If I'm assuming correctly, an electronic M7 might indeed cost less to produce, just as the Contax G cameras cost considerably less than an M6. Or just as, I believe, a new R8 can currently be bought for less than a mechanical R6.2. Of course, should Leica introduce an electronic M7 -- and they should -- it must supplement and not replace the M6 and M6HM. Larry