what amuses me are the people who somehow suggest that "yes, paying more for a leica is worth it," yet somehow reject the notion that the reason they never had a properly functioning FSU body is because they were never willing to pay what it cost.
As far as FSU lenses go, how many of you have snapshots of test charts in your wallet? Is that really the only measure of a lens' quality - how well it shows dots and lines on a test chart? I'm just reassured to know that there have never been good pictures taken until this very day, when photographers have access to lenses that aren't crap. I mean, just look at all those so-called "good photos" that have been taken with inferior equipment. Imagine how much better life would be had the photographers only known they were wasting their time because they didn't have a modern Summicron.
Seriously, anyone who thinks $20 on ebay buys the best of the breed needs their head examined. You bought a POS from someone getting rid of it for a reason, don't pretend your used piece of crap is somehow a representative example of production.
As far as anecdotal claims about FSU factory quality, I file those in the same place as anecdotal claims about US auto production - "don't buy a car made on Monday, all the UAW was hung over and did a shoddy job." Rational thought alone would discount those ideas, but who needs rational thought, right? [waits for someone who doesn't know jack-**** about cars or unions to turn this into an "American cars suck" thread]
These anecdotal claims smack of prejudice and ignorance, a case of "we are better than them," based on ego not facts. Believe them if you want, but it's your own ignorance that informs your opinions. Yeah, the only country in the world with a functional and reliable orbital shuttle has never been capable of quality manufacturing :/
And let's conveniently forget the number of people making a nice living repairing those mystical "perfect" and indestructible Leicas. God forbid you ever break a Leica, because there is nobody alive that could fix it, seeing as they've never needed it, right? All those for sale listings for CLA'd Leicas are obviously liars, as a holy Leica would never need such a thing. Listings for fogged Leica lenses from the 50's are liars as well, because such a thing would NEVER happen. I mean, I've never heard of a fogged Jupiter, and Leica lenses are obviously superior as everyone knows, so therefore there are no fogged Leica lenses. Simple logic.
It's simply amazing to watch the mental gynastics people go through to justify their purchases and experiences. Has it ever occurred to some of you that ownership of Leica bodies and lenses might just be an indication of your pocketbook and not your intelligence or personal value to the world? Dumping money down the toilet on busted FSU bodies is simply a testament to your own ignorance and cheap-skate nature. Buying a CLA'd Leica shows you learned something from the experience, but sadly, you still haven't quite figured out what.
