Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/10/30
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hi Clive, titanium is heavier than Aluminium. The majority of the M6 body is aluminium. The top and bottom plates are either brass or some sort of zinc die casting alloy depending on model. Making the top and bottom plates titanium would save the odd gram, making the whole camera titanium would make it considerably heavier. Titanium would be unsuitable for lens moving parts because of its poor friction characteristics. By and large titanium is an unsuitable choice for most domestic products. AFAIK the only sound engineering (rather than fashion/styling) use of titanium was in the syncromesh rings of Porsche 911 gearboxes where the high natural friction was used to good effect. I do not know whether they still use it - they did a major cost reduction exercise a few years ago. cheers Frank On Thursday, October 30, 2003, at 04:23 am, Clive Moss wrote: > sam said the following on 10/29/2003 9:23 PM: > >> My 30 year old Voightlander VF135 rangefinder has a 40mm f/2.4 lens, >> a bright rangefinder, is pocketable, has fully automatic and manual >> modes, is easy to use, and achieves impressive pictorial results. >> As per Leica's CM description below, in comparison the Voightlander >> lacks a detailed LED display and a semi-rare metal cage. >> No matter how many point-and-shoot Japanese cameras, both film and >> digital, Leica markets, all they are doing is lowering the excitment >> bar lower and lower. >> Sam S > > Specs sound a lot like my Nikon 35Ti -- now discontinued. Same size, > 1/2 stop lens difference, solid titanium. Why could they not make the > M6 titanium that way I still do not know -- it would be a lot lighter > (yes, I have read all the stuff in the archives - I still want a real > solid titanium M6 to go with my titanium Breitling watch.) > > > -- > Clive > http://clive.moss.net > > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html > - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html