[Leica] Pros

[Mike Johnston <michaeljohnston@ameritech.net>]

>>>Siver-halide based still photography is one of the few fields where
professional-grade equipment does not cost much more than consumer-grade

equipment.  Have you looked at the pricetags of Arriflex, or other
professional motion-picture equipment?   You will quickly see that
Leicas,
which cost perhaps merely an order of magnitude more than what a normal
lay
person would consider reasonable for a camera, is extremely reasonable
in
comparison.<<<

I don't consider Leicas pro cameras. More non-pros use them. And perhaps
the pro who use them are using them with their "artist / amateur" sides.
We have pros reading our magazine, but I get the sense that they read
it--and do darkroom work--not for professional reasons, but out of a
genuine love of photography. I think perhaps the pros who use Leica are
also this way.

Incidentally, most real working pros I know have $20K minimum invested
in equipment; studio pros, $50K minimum, usually more.

Not trying to be argumentative here, just throwing in an additional
opinion.

- --Mike