[Leica] Re: Digital vs. mechanical camera lifetimes

[lrzeitlin at optonline.net (Lawrence Zeitlin)]

On Aug 8, 2007, at 2:48 AM, Nathan wrote:

> Clearly, no digital camera will ever match the useful life of an  
> M3. But
> on the other hand, to say that the useful life of a modern DSLR is  
> equal
> to the product release cycle is simply bunk.

Nathan,

The film Leicas only performed four functions (viewfind, rangefind,  
expose film, move film) with relatively sturdy mechanical and optical  
parts. Most parts could be adjusted to compensate for wear. All of  
the photographic magic is in the film and lenses.

My digital Leica, a Digilux Zoom, performed dozens of functions  
(opened and shut lens cover, extended lens, measured light, zoomed  
lens, focused, set sensitivity, adjusted white balance, timed  
exposure, presented images on LCD screen, transmitted images to  
computer, etc., etc., etc.). It is a truism that product reliability  
is inversely proportionate to the number of parts and the number of  
functions performed.

My 53 year old M3 still takes fine pictures. My Digilux is dead,  
dead, dead. And even if by some miracle it came back to life, it uses  
the discontinued SM card.

All me an unreformed Luddite but I have an innate suspicion of the  
digitization of simple mechanical functions. I still use my old slide  
rule. How many of you still use Commodore PET computers?

Larry Z