[Leica] Film + Scanner

[henningw at archiphoto.com (Henning Wulff)]

Computers are hardly the same as cameras. Or cars, or most things that are 
in large part mechanical. Leica cameras and lenses are still largely 
mechanical. The M10 is reputed to be much less mechanical, which can result 
in either a) lower prices or b) higher profits for Leica, which in turn can 
lead them to expand production facilities, develop new products or just 
remain as profits. In any case, Leica can continue whereas most other small 
camera companies are gone. While I'm sure Leica is making money right now, 
it's not like they are in a stable and readily sustainable position. R&D 
costs per unit produced are huge, especially considering they are at the 
leading edge in the opto-mechanical part. W.r.t. electronics they have to 
purchase both hardware and software and they don't have much clout except 
for the marketing clout their suppliers may gain from association with 
Leica. The latter is certainly not a given, and the lack of economies of 
scale certainly are a given.

Leica is at the moment one of the more profitable camera companies, and that 
in Germany, not in Asia. On the other hand, 10 years ago it seemed very 
unlikely that they would survive at all. I'd rather some products are priced 
out of my reach (but not everyone's) than that the company be gone for good 
or just visible in red dot stickon's on Panasonics.

Henning


On 2012-05-13, at 9:42 PM, Lew Schwartz wrote:

> It's true. I just had to replace my computer so as to be able to run
> the new W7 Adobe products. I got 8x the amount of ram, 4x the amount
> of hd space, an outrageously improved graphics card, 3x the cpu speed,
> not to mention  2x cores on the chip for 1/3 the price.
> 
> On Sun, May 13, 2012 at 7:49 PM, Douglas Nygren <douglasnygren at 
> yahoo.com> wrote:
>> Lew wrote that shooting film and using a scanner is okay until the 
>> scanner tanks and then it takes longer because you have to process the 
>> film, scan before using Photoshop. He doubts other companies will make a 
>> dedicated B&W camera and if they do he implied it wouldn't be a range 
>> finder.
>> Let me respond:
>> I've thought about all that and would agree. Like Lew, I am a street 
>> shooter and for that a range finder is prima. Es gibt nichts Besseres. 
>> SLR's are too slow, too clumsy.
>> In regards to the scanner dying, I'll wait until that occurs. Why rush a 
>> replacement? By then, the M9-M  will be replaced by who knows what.
>> BTW, isn't it strange that while computers get better and better, the 
>> cost doesn't rise whereas as Leicas improve, their costs skyrocket. I 
>> can't help thinking that Leica Corporate knows a cash cow when they see 
>> one.
>> Cheers--Dougals
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> Leica Users Group.
>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> -Lew S.
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> 


Henning Wulff
henningw at archiphoto.com