Re: [Leica] Leica Users digest V4 #23

[drodgers@nextlink.net]

Iain:

>You wrote:
>
>The questions arise though about where a manufacturer's responsibilty
>     for reliabilty ends, and is Leica design and quality control good
>     enough for the price we pay?

You make some very good points. Under normal use we expect a great deal
from Leica lenses, and rightly so. I value Leica lenses for construction
quality and longevity. Perhaps even moreso than optical performance,
although the two are related.

Over the years I tried inexpensive Brand X lenses. They performed quite
well off the shelf. But after some wear and tear, they started to feel more
and more like inexpensive Brand X lenses. I don't know if they lost their
ability to perform up to high standards, or I just lost confidence in them.
They weren't worth a CLA. They lost all value. Now they're sitting in a
drawer in my darkroom.

Contrast that to Leica lenses. You're pretty confident they're going to
last. If you get comfortable with a certain lens, you know it's going to be
there for a while. And if you ever tire of a lens you can recover most of
your investment. In the event of a mishap, and I've experienced a couple,
they can usually be repaired.

I would imagine that a strong demand for used equipment is very important
to Leica. They benefit indirectly. I started out with all used M equipment.
That's all I could afford. Nearly all of the M gear I now have I purchased
new. Though my experience is with rangefinders only, I'm now starting to
get into Leica R with the purchase of an SL and 50/2.

I'm weighing Contax (which I now have)vs Leica R and I'm finding it to be a
difficult decision. I could probably sell all my Contax gear (3 bodies and
8 lenses) and end up with the lenses I'd use most -- 100/2.8 APO Macro R,
180/2.8, 2X and R7 or R8.

Not to get off topic, but I recently bought a Zeiss 28-70/3.5. I vowed
never to buy another zoom. But convenience of several key focal lengths in
one small lens for travel got the better of me. Plus, I've been so
impressed with the 21/2.8 ASPH M that I'm a sucker for anything with
aspheric elements. Didn't Leica come out with a similar zoom recently?

Dave