Re: Light, portable camera, A Con?

["Craig W. Shier" <shier@mail1.mnsinc.com>]

I'm reminded of of the merchant who, finding a pearl of great price, sold
everything he had to buy it.  

The Leica M is unique.  If it cost 2 or 3 times as much, there would still
be buyers... a lot fewer but non-zero.  What is a little uniqueness worth to
you?  Remember the car thread?  It costs much less to own a Leica than a
nice car, let alone a luxury or high end sports model.  

I drive a 10 year old Ford myself.  Ironically, I derive as much
satisfaction from the money I save by not having an expensive car as I do
from the money I spend on my photography.  On the other hand, I'm sure there
are those who enjoy their Mercedes and Pentax K1000s similarly (well, maybe
not).  And, had I a third hand, there are certainly those with both Mercedes
and Hassies or Linhofs (or Bruckner Leicas?).

>> Are we being conned? Is a Leica M really worth $4000? I personally doubt
>> it. It sure says Leica on it, it sure is a nice camera, but in terms of 
>> functionality there are plenty of cameras selling for an eighth the 
>> money that will produce indistinguishable results. 
>