Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/04/08
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I don't know the situation in the USA, but here in France, from what I know, the "PRO's" get special deals from all the big names. I don't know about Nikon or Canon, but Leica gives a 15% rebate when you are a pro. Concerning the expensiveness of Leica, trust me, it's worth every penny! When I sold my M4 and 5 lenses in 1997, I hardly lost 20% of the initial price I paid (I calculated with the inflation). OK, not all of the stuff was new, but consider that I used the stuff for more than ten years. I can tell you that none of the gear I have used over the years, in all the formats I used (135, 120 up to 8x10'') had as much value when I sold the stuff. OK, maybe the 8x10 Cambo, I think I even made money with this one :-) I have seen REAL user Leicas (brass, almost no more paint) that still functioned without the viewfinder glass (broken by a schrapnel), I had lenses (M&R) fall on concrete floor and still function... I remember a friend switching from F1's to a couple of T90's. When they needed servicing, he just threw them away and bought new ones. That's expensive too... Most of the reporters I saw while shooting the chinese new year, carried very expensive Canon and Nikon gear (high end stuff) about the same prices as the M and more expensive than the R. Besides that, a couple of these pros had a nice little M6 too... IMHO Leica is very high value for my money and that's the least I want for my work... Tarek le 08.04.2002 21:49, Photo Phreak à leicam4pro@yahoo.com a écrit : > > --- Tarek Charara <tarek.charara@wanadoo.fr> wrote: >> What are you trying to prove? I must have missed the >> initial post... > ============================================================ > 1. That very few on the LUG are professional > photographers. > > 2. That most working photographers must use less expensive > equipment because they are not paid well enough to amortize > anything as expensive as Leica. This is meant for those > whose employer does not furnish their gear. > > While in Viet Nam I carried cameras that I could afford > to lose to dirt, humidity, damage or theft. My military > pay was only $225.00 a month at its highest level. (1969) > That was about the price of an M4 body or a Nikon FTn with > 50mm f/1.4. > > Larry Burrows told me his Leicas were sent to Hong Kong > for a complete stripdown and cleaning on a MONTHLY basis. > He was carrying five Leicas and two Nikons on the day I met > him. I am also sure that because of his fame and > "connections" he received his equipment for much lower > prices than you or I would have been offered. > > One friend was carrying a FTn and 50~300 zoom when they > drove into an ambush. He dove into a ditch full of water, > mud, algae and probably shit RATHER THAN GET SHOT. I will > leave the shape of the camera and lens to your imagination. > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax > http://taxes.yahoo.com/ > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html