Re: [Leica] M6 J and a new M camera!

[Paul and Paula Butzi <butzi@halcyon.com>]

At 07:21 PM 3/9/98 , you wrote:
>Paul and Paula Butzi wrote: I'm just guessing, but it's probably the
>case that the vast majority of
>
>> M camera hours of use in 1997 were M-6.  So it's probably not
>> surprising
>> that repair technicians see mostly m-6's in for repair.  And it's
>> probably
>> not surprising that it's mostly the newest M-6's either, since they
>> probably
>> see the heaviest use.
>
>bad guess.  M's go on and on so long as they are properly serviced.
>their value ensures the owner will continue the necessary upkeep most of
>the time.    the other M's outnumber the M6 by roughly 4 to 1.

It could well be that the number of other M's is 4 times the number
of M6's.  However, that's not what I said.  What I said was that, as
a guess, the majority of hours of use in 1997 were m6 hours.  
My assumption is that it's the brand new cameras that see the heaviest use,
since people (with the exception of collectors who take them and
put them in their safe deposit box) tend to buy cameras to use them.
Eventually the novelty wears off and they fall back to a more normal
pattern of use.  As I said, I'm guessing.  In the past year, every 
single Leica I've seen in use has been an M6.  However, I'm not
suffering under any delusions that this is a meaningful sample.
If someone has reliable figures on how many of each model M
bodies are still in active use, I think it would be fascinating to see.

I assume that Leica have reliable MTBF statistics for their products.  I'd be
quite surprised to find out that they shared those statistics with
anyone outside Leica.  I'd also be surprised if anyone else
had managed to assemble meaningful statistics on it.  There are
too many variables to control - for instance, one that comes to 
mind is that people who purchased their Leica in 1950 might
expect to have their camera CLA'd on a regular basis.  Someone
who purchased their M6 in 1990 might well expect that it will
be entirely service free, rather like the BMW they just bought
which has its first scheduled maintenance at 100,000 miles.

I have no idea whether M6's are more or less reliable than other
models.  But I can (and do) assert that knowing that the majority
of repairs are done on m6's without knowing how many hours are
put in on different models during the sample period tells you just 
about nothing about the reliability of the various models.

If someone has figures on the number of different models in active
use, let's hear it.  If someone has MTBF numbers on different models
let's hear them.  It couldn't possibly be more pointless than the
discussion about the damn red dot, or more boring than the
discussion about Princess Di. :-)

- -Paul