RE: [Leica] 35-70/2.8 out of production ??? commercial point of view !!!

["B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>]

So would someone kindly explain to me why there is such limited call for the
Leica version of a lens that is a true standard for both the Nikon and Canon
autofocus cameras?...Or am I asking a stupid question, because the reality
is that there is limited call for as expensive a manual focus SLR as the
R8...?



> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> [mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of
> Hans-Peter.Lammerich@t-online.de
> Sent: Friday, June 16, 2000 9:32 AM
> To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> Subject: [Leica] 35-70/2.8 out of production ??? commercial point of
> view !!!
>
>
> Price, weight and bulk in relation to its not so exciting zoom range
> and speed show that Leica’s design department could not do miracles. The
> market is limited and a limited production run to eliminate the risk of
> an unsold stock of lenses was a wise decision.
>
> However, I am curious how that project looks like from the commercial
> point of view. 300 lenses at a retail price of DM 4,750 (excl. VAT) give
> DM 1,450,000. Deduct the dealers’ margin, marketing, overheads etc. and
> you arrive at DM 1,000,000 (maximum). How that relates to the cost of
> engineering-months and computer time (DM 300,000?), special tools (DM
> 100,000?) e.g. for the asphercial lens elements) and the unit
> manufacturing
> cost (DM 2,000/piece = DM 600,000)? When Leica designed the current
> 4/35-70 they must have looked at alternative designs (e.g. a
> f=1:3.5), but a
> f=1:2.8 would have been quite far from that, certainly more than just
> an academic exercise, spending a couple of extra weeks at the computer.
>
> I remember an article about the Apo 2/180, saying that Leica marketed
> the lens without prototyping. They went from optical and mechanical
> design straight into production. Possibly I therefore grossly
> overestimate
> the cost of r&d and production start-up for a lens.
>
> Did Leica use idle capacity in its design and production departments at
> zero opportunity costs?
> Was the 2.8/35-70 intended as a prestige project, irrespective of cost
> and market potential?
> Will Leica keep tools, surplus materials and CAM data files for a
> second run to justify start-up costs?
> What would have been the retail price, if 3000 instead of only 300 had
> been made?
> What is then the profit margin for the 4/35-70 or 3.5-4.5/28-70 which
> are made in thousands and are selling for DM 1,800 (excl. VAT)?
>
> Hans-Peter
>
>