Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/11/09
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]>From a luminous landscape review of phase one backs Whenever high-end professional photographic gear is introduced there are always some who complain about what they perceive as rip-off pricing. It needs to be understood that these new backs are tools for working photographers, not toys for hobbyists. $20,000 for a P20 or $30,000 for a P25 is a business expense for someone who uses these tools to make a living. Consider this. A busy pro can easily shoot 10 rolls of 220 film a day, and do so for at least 15 days a month. At $15 / roll for film and processing that's $2,250 a month in materials costs. A P20 back will cost $20,000, and therefore will pay for itself in less than 9 month with savings in film and processing costs alone, not to mention the hassles of driving to the lab to drop the film off, driving back to the lab to pick it up, time spent cutting, sleeving, fileing, scanning etc. And to save anyone having the do the math, the P25 takes 13 months to pay itself off based on these assumptions. After that it's money in the bank. Considering that this is a capital asset that can be depreciated over 2-3 years the math is a no-brainer. Of course some pros will shoot more than this and have a faster payback, while some will shoot less. But regardless, photographers working in the areas of fashion, editorial, feature, product, portrait and weddings will have little trouble convincing their accountants or bank managers of this. In fact most people lease this equipment so as not to tie up their capital and they therefore simply finance the acquisition out of cash flow. A P20 could likely be leased for about $500 a month. A moderate operating expensive for a working pro http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/p25-firstlook.shtml you probably read it but anyway best,simon jessurun amsterdam