Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/08/17
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Andrew, I lived in New Jersey for 5 years and took frequent trips into Manhattan on weekends. I do not recall ever seeing a Leica among the throngs of tourists around the World Trade Center or Empire State Building. I think it is the same all over the world. Leica is a niche product, both in terms of price and style, and the people who use them will not often be seen at the most popular tourist spots during the most crowded hours anyway. An appropriate analogy might be: when you drive on the freeway, how often do you see a Rolls Royce or Ferrari? Leica is to cameras what those brands are to cars. As for film, I do not know whether Fuji outsells Kodak here, but they certainly are more present than in the US. There, Kodak dominates the market (as Fuji does in Japan). When I moved to Belgium in '95, I noticed a wider choice of film in most shops than in the US, whether slide or B&W. Besides Kodak and Fuji, Agfa and Ilford have a strong presence. In fact, I can buy Ilford or Kodak B&W films in even the smallest camera shop and most drug stores in Belgium. There is even a disposable B&W camera by Ilford! B&W is thriving (relatively speaking, of course) and I do not think that serious photography is a dying hobby. But in terms of numbers, sure, we will always be overwhelmed by the casual snapshooters. Nathan Andrew Morang wrote: SNIP > I did not see any Leica cameras whatsoever, anywhere. > > I did not see any Contax cameras anywhere. > > In Venice, I met a store keeper with a Hasselblad, but that was the only medium-format camera I saw in a month of visiting popular tourist areas. > > As for film, it looks like Fuji print film now outsells Kodak in Europe. The most common E-6 film was Fujichrome. I did not see any Kodachrome for sale anywhere. What's wrong Kodak, have you lost the ability to market effectively? In Switzerland, Fuji film was about the same cost as in the U.S., a pleasant surprise considering the high price of everything else in Switzerland. I bought two PX 625 mercury batteries in Lugano. I was pleased to see that many European camera stores still stock black and white film. Here in the U.S., it is harder and harder to find black and white emulsions. > > Sad to say, serious photography seems to be a dying hobby. > > Andrew Morang > Vicksburg, Mississippi USA - -- Nathan Wajsman Overijse, Belgium Photography page: http://members.tripod.com/~belgiangator/index.html Motorcycle page: http://www.geocities.com/motorcity/downs/1704/index.html