[Leica] Buying Leica.....

[john at mcmaster.co.nz (John McMaster)]

I really wonder if I would have bought into Leica if I was buying now..... I 
had not shot with nor knew anybody who owned one (I have owned Canon, Nikon, 
Contax, Olympus, Hasselblad, LF etc and shot with a lot more, all prime 
lenses etc) and thought the name was all image ;-)

I was coming from an APS-C Nikon and was looking at Canon 5D II or M9, at 
that time size (I knew I would not carry a DSLR) so went M9. If the Fuji 
series was on the market at the time would I have bought that?

>From http://zackarias.com/blog/

"You see, for decades Leica was the shit for the traveling journalist, 
street shooters, documentary photographers, etc. They are fantastic cameras 
with an undeniable heritage. But here?s the deal. The folks who put Leica on 
the map can?t afford them any longer. They are a boutique camera company. 
The working stiff can?t shell out close to $10,000 for a body and a lens. Go 
price out 2 M?s, a 20mm ish lens, a 35mm, and a 75mm. Go price that out. 
Then price out an x100s, an X-Pro1, and the Fuji 14mm, 35mm, and 60mm lens. 
You still haven?t spent the price of a single Leica body yet. Let alone two 
of them. And glass."

With hindsight I would still go Leica, nothing to touch the lenses for 
different looks and I prefer the simpler operation, but if I had not used 
them what would make me spend 'rather a lot' more on Leica than Fuji? Does 
'full frame' or the build quality make enough of a difference for the price 
jump to most people?

john