Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2015/07/08

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Subject: [Leica] New M(240 firmware - 2/0.2.5)
From: dstella1 at ameritech.net (Dante Stella)
Date: Wed, 8 Jul 2015 23:43:26 -0400
References: <01ee01d0b98d$154560e0$3fd022a0$@mcmaster.fr> <01d801d0b9b8$a73abd30$f5b03790$@verizon.net> <020c01d0b9ba$809c31c0$81d49540$@mcmaster.fr> <01de01d0b9bd$1bd64890$5382d9b0$@verizon.net> <E201B152-00EE-455F-B960-3B45A5573BBD@ameritech.net> <01fa01d0b9c8$17d5a6e0$4780f4a0$@verizon.net>

Lots of reasons.

1.      Shutter count is meaningless because shutters are rated in terms of 
*mean* time between failures. Shutters do not self-destruct at 150K frames, 
and some fail at 20K. Arithmetic means could be what they are simply because 
half fail at 10K and half fail at 290K. In addition, people tend to see it 
as a warranty claim when a camera rated at MTBF 150K frames does not make it 
to that number. In fact, Fuji, which was the first company to put shot 
counters on film cameras (or any camera), admitted through their U.S. 
operation that the counters on their film cameras didn't correspond to any 
mandatory maintenance.

2.      Leica is in the business of selling certified pre-owned equipment, 
and shot counts impact that business (as they would any private seller).The 
essence of CPO is that if it fails in its 2-year period, they fix it, and it 
doesn?t matter whether the camera had one exposure on it or one million. The 
encrypted number might inform decisions they make about what cameras they 
would CPO and when to replace a camera. Or serve as data points in computing 
warranty costs.

3.      Leica is not interested in gutting its own secondary market because 
retained value is a big part of brand perception in luxury goods. Contrast 
non-luxury brand Fuji, which now makes shot counts available at the top 
level of their menus (see: X100T), presumably so that when they slash prices 
on new goods, as seems to happen every 6 months, you?ll just go for new ones 
instead of used ones.

4.      In terms of buyers from private sellers, Leica probably doesn?t care 
about how secure such buyers feel about buying a used camera for 
professional (or mission-critical) use. If you?re worried about wear and 
tear, and CPO isn?t enough to assuage those fears, there is new equipment. 
I?m sure they perceive that if someone if going to use a camera like this 
professionally, they will buy it new and write off the depreciation.

Dante

> On Jul 8, 2015, at 5:50 PM, Frank Filippone <red735i at verizon.net> wrote:
> 
> To date, the shot counter in the M240 has been "encrypted" and no one has
> broken the algorithm yet.
> 
> I forgot when I first asked the question....
> 
> I wonder why Leica did that?
> 
> Frank Filippone
> Red735i at verizon.net
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information



In reply to: Message from john at mcmaster.fr (John McMaster) ([Leica] New M(240 firmware - 2/0.2.5))
Message from red735i at verizon.net (Frank Filippone) ([Leica] New M(240 firmware - 2/0.2.5))
Message from john at mcmaster.fr (John McMaster) ([Leica] New M(240 firmware - 2/0.2.5))
Message from red735i at verizon.net (Frank Filippone) ([Leica] New M(240 firmware - 2/0.2.5))
Message from dstella1 at ameritech.net (Dante Stella) ([Leica] New M(240 firmware - 2/0.2.5))
Message from red735i at verizon.net (Frank Filippone) ([Leica] New M(240 firmware - 2/0.2.5))