Lens Hood Prices

[Marc James Small <msmall@roanoke.infi.net>]

Roger asked about the relative value of Leica 2/35 lenshoods in 1963 and the
present.  Well, I haven't a '63 catalogue at hand, but I do have a couple of
others, so here goes:

In Catalogue 35 (1960), the IROOA/12571 lens hood is listed for the 2/35 at
$4.50
In Catalogue 38 (1965), the 12585 lens hood is listed for the 2/35 at $9.30
The current Leica price list (July '95) lists the current lens hood for $59.00

Now, this may SOUND like a big increase, but it's not.  We had the Viet-Nam
War in the late '60's with its then-frightening 10% inflation, we had the
Carter years, with 18% inflation.  We've had a relative benign inflation
since President Reagan came in, but even that -- 4% or so -- halves the
value of the dollar every 15 years, as Tom properly noted.

In any event, in '65 I was working as a part-time library page whilst in
High School (I was a gender-battier buster, being the first boy ever so
hired by my local library) and making, as I recall 25 cents the hour.  So
$9.30 was beyond my reach, and I stuck with my old Voigtlander Bessa.
Today, $59 is a drop in the bucket, and I would pay it cheerfully if I felt
the need though, being Scottish, I'm more inclined to pick up a used one for
$25 or $30.

In any event, Leica cut their lens hood prices a year or three back by 15%
or so.  And now they come with the lens cap where this is normally used with
the lens, as it is with the 12575, a reversion to an older and honourable
custom.

The long and the short of it is that I don't envy the old days for their
prices, which were just as steep, relative to the average income, if not
steeper than are today's.  I do envy the old days, however, for the swathe
and availability of merchandise:  I've had a couple of eyepieces and the
camera adaptor for my APO-Televid on order since March, '95, a wait that, I
suspect, wouldn't have occurred in '65.

Marc
msmall@roanoke.infi.net  FAX:  +540/343-7315
Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!