[Leica] Leica donation to students

[dorysrus at mindspring.com (Don Dory)]

1) Leica is being true to its workers and staying in Europe.  This has a
large price tag as the Euro has appreciated.  The price increases for
Leica goods have more to do with currency fluctuation than any increase
in quality.  This is one reason the Contax G system is relatively cheap;
it is made in Asia.

2) Leica has been relatively starved for development funds since the
seventies so bringing out something new is pretty hard.  Remember, the
microscopes and other scientific items were split off almost thirty
years ago so there is no other part of the company to carry water for a
money losing part.

3) When we talk about expensive, I think that we are talking relative
values.  People think that $4000 is too much to pay for a body and lens
that will last a lifetime. An added bonus is that the combination could
be sold for more than 50% of cost. At the same time the same person
will not bat an eye about paying $1200 or so for an IMac that will be
obsolete in three to five years.  Ipods cost how much for a super CD
player?

4) This is really about perceptions of what cameras should cost.  You
can buy a Nikon N75 for what $239?  A decent P/S digital can be had for
$249.  So when you say a camera costs $4000 you do have to justify why.

5) Leica typically does not SPIF its products so in most camera stores
the sales staff will not pick up a Leica and in fact will try to steer a
customer to a model that pays her/him more.

6) Leica long ago lost its dedicated account managers so no one is
really out there selling the merits of the camera.

7) For Leica to survive, enough new people need to see the tool as
something vital to their artistic needs.  The real question, is how do
new potential users find out about the virtues of Leica cameras.

8) Leica should provide (loaners) to college students and or people who
inquire.  These could be scratch and dent models that have been replace
under warranty, cosmetic rejects, whatever.  For some people, the unique
tool that is Leica will sell itself once it is used.

Sorry for the length.

Don
dorysrus@mindspring.com

-----Original Message-----
From: lug-bounces+dorysrus=mindspring.com@leica-users.org
[mailto:lug-bounces+dorysrus=mindspring.com@leica-users.org] On Behalf
Of Philippe Orlent
Sent: Sunday, September 26, 2004 12:42 PM
To: Leica Users Group
Subject: Re: [Leica] Leica donation to students