Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/12/08
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Given that a Phase One P45 (39 mp) back for Hasselblad V, 26 month warranty, will run you a cool $23,990.00, and it has no moving parts; I'd suggest that real cost rests in R&D - making the stuff work - creating the dies, getting the software to work with the hardware, on and on. Leica taking back their first M8 run for fixes will cost them a significant amount - chalk it up to R&D. As soon as they, or any other player get a smooth functioning system out the door - they've got to massage the firm ware and get on to the next level. If you've got $25K going out the door for your P45 - keep in mind that the P45+ will soon allow live viewing. Phase One will upgrade your P45 if you bought it retail. But it's really about R&D for now. They've got to hit the shows next year with competition killers and they don't know for sure where the competition is going. The bleeding edge of digital photography has little to do with "consumer" electronics getting cheaper and cheaper. The consumer level stuff gains from the developers at the bleeding edge. But the bleeding edge remains with all the related R&D costs. All the complaining about Leica not getting the M8 exactly right the very first time does not acknowledge that they've done something no one else has - they've produced a 10 megapixel Rangefinder camera which cuts incredibly fine detail onto a digital image file, using their marvelous lenses. All magenta issues aside. Regards, George Lottermoser george@imagist.com On Dec 8, 2006, at 4:36 PM, Lawrence Zeitlin wrote: > With digital electronics getting cheaper and cheaper it is apparent > that the main cost of a digital Leica is the mechanical components. > Based on years of consulting to the optoelectronics industry, I > estimate that the mechanical and optical components of the M8 > account for more than 80% of the manufacturing cost.