[Leica] Leica prices

[photo at frozenlight.eu (Nathan Wajsman)]

Just to add to Geoff's analysis: production costs have very little to do 
with prices. In the long run of course every company must have a positive 
margin to stay in business. But prices are determined by what people are 
willing to pay for an item, not by how much it costs to produce it. This 
morning I was at the Fnac in Paris with my daughter. She was looking at a 
Hello Kitty thingie that cost 14 Euro. I am certain that the production cost 
at the Chinese factory where this item was made was at most 20 cents. But 
evidently some people (not me) are willing to pay 14 Euro for it, and so 
that is the price.

Leica pricing, albeit at a different level, is no different. It is the 
buyers' willingness to pay that matters.

Nathan

Nathan Wajsman
Alicante, Spain
http://www.frozenlight.eu
http://www.greatpix.eu
http://www.nathanfoto.com

Books: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/search?search=wajsman&x=0&y=0
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On Mar 9, 2010, at 10:55 PM, Geoff Hopkinson wrote:

> Larry some aspherical elements used in modern Leica M lenses do start out 
> as
> a compression moulded blanks made from pre-machined material. There are
> limitations on glass type and physical size for that method. I have seen
> about 2 cubic meters of these blanks from Ohara in the corridor at the 
> Solms
> factory. Erwin Puts tells us that this type may be found in some M wide
> angles. Larger elements, for example in the faster lens designs are made by
> CNC machining. Some of the glass types are actually extremely expensive 
> with
> the common report that one element in particular lenses costs more than the
> rest combined. Whatever the actual material costs, these elements are made
> one at a time and that process as well as the coating is very 
> sophisticated.
> You can see the grinding machines at work at Solms as well.  Assembly is
> entirely manual and the mounts as well are extremely precise.
> 
> Whatever opinions are regarding performance, mechanical precision, value or
> inflation tables it is a fact that the M9 has been extremely successful and
> is still largely back ordered everywhere. Current production numbers are 
> the
> highest that they have been since its inception and the staff at Solms are
> still working overtime to try to catch up. My last email from Solms was 
> sent
> last Saturday afternoon from there.
> 
> Perhaps directly influenced by the success of the M9 is that demand for M
> lenses has also greatly increased. So much so that a number of the most
> desirable and expensive lenses are also well into back order status.  
> People
> are also buying the high end lenses over the less expensive Summarits
> despite the excellence of those designs. Go and try to find the Summilux 50
> ASPH. on a dealer shelf anywhere. Current back orders here are now four
> months long for that one for example.
> In short, the market disagrees with your analysis.
> 
> 
> Cheers
> Geoff
> http://www.pbase.com/hoppyman
> 
> 
> On 10 March 2010 03:35, Lawrence Zeitlin <lrzeitlin at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> ......
>> So why is the M9 and its associate lenses so expensive......Larry Z
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
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>> 
> 
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>