[Leica] Let's buy Leica Solms et al

[philippe.orlent at pandora.be (Philippe Orlent)]

Into filantropy, are we?


> From: <mak@teleport.com>
> Reply-To: Leica Users Group <lug@leica-users.org>
> Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2005 11:08:08 -0800 (GMT-08:00)
> To: Leica Users Group <lug@leica-users.org>
> Subject: [Leica] Let's buy Leica Solms et al
> 
> There must be several thousand MUG LUG CVUG folks here along with many
> thousand others in LHSA Leica Historica and the various other
> international/national collectors orginizations...demographically speaking
> Leica owners, as an aggrate, are not poor...
> 
> Based on 50% loss from the last reported financials (see Leica website) and
> nothing promising in the pipeline (portending massive future losses) what
> would it take to buy Leica Camera?
> 
> Could a US based non-profit buy a French German Swiss company? Could LHSA
> aqquire Leica USA which would in turn acquire Leica Camera...
> 
> Be they made in Solms, Wetzlar, Midland or Portugal, I think that the 
> majority
> of Leica users would rather have a place to turn for another M4 M6 MP body,
> perhaps an R body, lenses and common accessories...
> 
> How many tens of millions could we raise by selling the spare items from 
> the
> Leica museum...(last I heard they had 6 or 8 110 Leicas  there...what would
> the harm be of three or four would end up being sold through LHSA Christies
> Tamarkin or even ebay...)
> 
> Somewhere in a dusty box moved from Wetzlar there are 144 M3 base plates 
> and
> tops...someone was offering mint M3 base plates for $500 each in the last 
> LHSA
> Viewfinder Catalog...
> 
> etc etc etc...
> 
> If the company is going to go away and be a fire sale why not hold the fire
> sale now and save what we determine as the owners should be saved...
> 
> And while we are on this soap box what the hell is keeping someone from 
> making
> a replacement digital back for Leica M cameras? I hacked one together out 
> of a
> 2MP Kodak Easy Share...tiny tiny CCD crappy images but I am neither an
> engineer nor a optical expert nor a programmer...
> 
> hmm $500 $1000 4/3 or APS sensor plate replaces flip up rear panel and
> baseplate (electronics and power go here also "film" advance sensor 
> triggered
> by motor pin to write CCD to buffer to card...)
> 
> Sign me up to help
> 
> Mark K in Portland
> 
> 
> 
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