Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/09/18

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Re: Why are LTM versions so expensive
From: Krechtz@aol.com
Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 17:01:13 EDT

In a message dated 9/18/00 12:28:57 AM Eastern Daylight Time, dante@umich.edu 
writes:

<< The funny thing about it was the discouragement of competition - Canon 
made a lot
 of LTM lenses that were very competitive with the contemporaneous Leitz 
lenses.
 There may have been a positive incentive to prevent people from easily or 
cheaply
 mounting 35/2 Canons or 50/1.2 Canons. >>

Actually, the point at which I was driving had more to do with the fact that 
Leitz was aiming to kill off the competition in LTM bodies.  Under that line 
of reasoning, the lenses would follow the bodies into extinction, as they 
did.  
Konica's use of the M mount tends to confirm that the plan was successful.  I 
suppose the corollary question for Konica is why Konica did not choose to 
build LTM lenses rather than to copy the M mount. The Cosinas are clearly not 
brand new designs involving R&D of the nature or extent of the Konica effort. 
 

Joe Sobel