Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/10/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Leica's "special editions" indeed require only minimal investment in r&d and tooling. More important they generate additional sales with higher margins, but without cannibalising the sales of "regular" models. The latest ones with substantial input in this regard, the M6J with 2.8/50 were soon offered as regular models. I believe that even r&d on new lenses is mainly on the computer at moderate cost. I remember an article claiming that the e.g. the Apo 2/180 was put in production without prototyping! The aspherical elements were made possible by an innovation from Docter Optics, with Leica as the first commercial user. The bottlenecks seem to be in electronics and production capacity in general. After a booming collectors' market until the early 1990s, nowadays Leica's "instant collectibles" are manufactured in just slightly too high numbers. I remember that almost every Leica dealer in Germany had a M6J on display, but it took years and finally large discounts to sell them off. The same with the latest LTM lenses. As a "collecting user" I miss the fun (and lack the money) on ordering "collectibles" from Leica's catalog. Hans-Peter - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html