[Leica] New M3 bottom plates for $27.50 ;-)

[MGMcGough@aol.com]

I have just come across a letter from the ELNY technical center
dated 4/25/79.  It is an answer to an inquiry by the new owner
of a used Leica M3 about obtaining a replacement bottom plate:

>"A new bottom plate for your M3 can be obtained from our parts
department for $27.50."<

This price is almost exactly one tenth of what a new (M3/M4) plate
will cost today (20 years later) - &  a new M6 body costs less than 
10 times what the M3 cost then.  Taking all this into consideration =
it is the cost of parts & labor that have sky rocketed, not the bodies
themselves.  Lens prices are a completely different matter, as they 
are the real profit makers for Leica.

Remember that George Eastman found that he could give away his
Kodaks gratis and still make a hugh profit selling the film..... I don't
know if it is true or not but I have heard that is why Kodak cameras
had to used the special spooled 620 film rather than  ordinary 120.
"Get my camera free or at least cheaply - but you must use my film"

Tucked in a little compartment of this same old Leica case, I found
a receipt for $25.00 for a M3  CLA - any ideas what the cost is now
with the easier to repair (throw away "go or no-go") "M"s and "R"s -
the last that I recall paying was $149.00 on a special offer from NJ.

Mary Grace