[Leica] Commutative M7

[lambroving at worldnet.att.net (William G. Lamb, III)]

B.D.,

YOU won't be buying any more Leica gear, so why ought Leica to be
worrying about YOU?

The MASS of Leica gear has ALWAYS been purchased by discerning
amateurs, not by the small numbers of pros who've used them so
effectively. Leicas make very good pictures even for the rankest novice.
Why ought they not make a few bucks off people who buy Breitlings
advertised in Porcheforus? A few Porsche folk can appreciate mechanical
precision, speaking from the perspective of someone who has sold
about 800 Porsches in the late eighties to mid-nineties.

The only thing I see wrong about this Porsche concept is that it is not
being offered with a 35/2 ASPH which might produce better pictures
for the first-time user of a Leica M.

This is the Leica User's Group, right? Do you still even USE a Leica?
Can't for the life of me comprehend why you are still here, except
that I guess you think it's clever to be a gnat in our collective ear...

William

At 02:32 PM 11/05/2004 -0500, you wrote:
>This is why Leica is will soon be nothing but a fond memory. Long gone
>is the company that produced the workhorse RFs the world's leading
>photographers took off to war with them, or traveled with to the far
>corners of the world. Instead we have the Hermes subsidiary that
>produces batches of 100 cameras for the Porche Club to sell to its
>members as commemorative baubles for 50th anniversary car parade's. Good
>HCB in heaven!
>
>And btw - why not have the Franklin Mint produce gold plated Porche
>scale models for the Porche club? It is, after all, a car club, not a
>camera club.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org
>[mailto:lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of
>Bill O'Connell
>Sent: Friday, November 05, 2004 2:22 PM
>To: Leica Users Group
>Subject: RE: [Leica] Commutative M7
>
>
>As I mentioned a while back, next year will be the 50th anniversary of
>the Porsche Club of America and I had been working on a limited edition
>camera for the event.  At first we were going to make it with a 50mm f2
>lens but it was later decided that many folks would not be interested in
>the lens especially with the current relationship of the dollar to the
>Euro so the final version will either be just a body or perhaps a body
>with a limited edition silver 50 1.4.  The price with the 50 is almost
>double due to manufacturing costs and as such, unless those that have
>more knowledge put up a strong case for doing it, it's unlikely to be
>done with the lens.
>
>The body will be chrome with the leather embossed to look like carbon
>fiber. The top plate will have he 50th anniversary Porsche Parade logo
>engraved on it, along with the number of the edition and the limit of
>the edition.  It will come in a presentation box with certificates, etc.
>Current thought is to produce 100 of them.  Normally about 1,000 to
>1,500 people are registered for parades (member and spouse/associate
>member, etc) and there are over 50,000 members in the club.  Because
>it's the 50th anniversary it is expected that there will be many more
>this year.
>
>The cameras will be offered first to the people that register for the
>parade to be held in Hershey PA in June of 05, then to the members of
>the Porsche Club of America.  The body only version will have a MAP of
>$4,200 and the body/lens package is $8,500.
>
>As my first foray into this side of the Leica world, any constructive
>input is most welcome.
>
>Should you wish to chat offline use woc2@earthlink.net
>
>Thanks,
>Bill