Which is the "We Saved the Company" Commemorative?

On my opinion, it was M6, after M5 there was low productions an sellings, that's why, Leica needed something to "pull it out", and "pull it up"...
Yet the second my variant is M4-2...
 
Last edited:
cirque said:
Said it before, and I'll say it again: The Leica MP Hermes
Leica_Hermes.jpg


They came, they spent, they lost. Sold it to Kaufman in the end. But they did get one of the most beautiful commemorative's.
Click to expand...

hmm. upon reflection I suppose this does qualify to answer the question. I guess I have to rephrase the question to "What is the other commemorative that was really about saving the company?"

but the Hermes M as beautiful? Have you seen it in person? To my eyes it's gawd awful garish.

Stephen
 
CameraQuest said:
hmm. upon reflection I suppose this does qualify to answer the question. I guess I have to rephrase the question to "What is the other commemorative that was really about saving the company?"
Click to expand...

If it was "about saving the company", then that would have to be the Leicaflex SL 1972 Olympics "commemorative".

Wasn't the advent of the SLR the "death" of rangefinders? Producing an SLR was meant to "save" the company.

So many people have been crying wolf on this for over 60 years, haven't they? The "final nail in Leica's coffin", that is.
 
Indeed SLR. it is strange idea that any commemorative could save company.. IT should be "big production" of M4-2 so you earn every dollar per every camera sold. Revenues of commemorative stuffs must be less than 20% of total sold cameras? 40-50% I would be surprised if it was true 🙂 D3 are sort of commemorative for Nikon when they sell millions of D50
 
tomasis said:
Indeed SLR. it is strange idea that any commemorative could save company.. IT should be "big production" of M4-2 so you earn every dollar per every camera sold. Revenues of commemorative stuffs must be less than 20% of total sold cameras? 40-50% I would be surprised if it was true 🙂 D3 are sort of commemorative for Nikon when they sell millions of D50
Click to expand...

no commemorative saved the company
but the commemorative I'm thinking of was about who did
even though it was officially about something else.

it officially says once thing, but means something else

Stephen
 
I believe that the M3, the orginal classic, keeps reminding people of the ultimate camera in craftmanship and design. These thoughts about Leica being a flagship company in RF camera design is embodied in the M3 and it is the M3 that keeps bringing users [and buyers] back to trust Leica and to invest in Leica products. This includes all M bodies after the M3.

It has to be the M3.
 
stephen, I think antiquarks reply sounds logical. What do you think? I dont know much about history but I can imagine that when M5 flopped, they did need money this time, no matter what SLR or RF. Every pence and nickel to survive through as photo company 🙂 Do you know which times did happen when leica is very close to disappear?
 
raid said:
I believe that the M3, the orginal classic, keeps reminding people of the ultimate camera in craftmanship and design. These thoughts about Leica being a flagship company in RF camera design is embodied in the M3 and it is the M3 that keeps bringing users [and buyers] back to trust Leica and to invest in Leica products. This includes all M bodies after the M3.

It has to be the M3.
Click to expand...

Briliant reply. My heart beats for M3. Current MP cannot get me even tempted to switch 🙂 I'm glad M8 is not much different now
 
CameraQuest said:
hmm. upon reflection I suppose this does qualify to answer the question. I guess I have to rephrase the question to "What is the other commemorative that was really about saving the company?" ...
Click to expand...

Okay, I am going to take a guess...

Was it the M6TTL limited production Titanium model complete with Hermes brown leather covering?
 
And now for a pseudo-rant:

I have owned (and still own) a number of Leicas, rangefinder and otherwise. Bessas, Contax (rangefinders), Kiev...

I was lucky enough to have owned a Leica first (other figh-in words!), financially speaking. I've kept the Bessa-R, want the Contax IIIa back (which I sold preferring the Kiev III over it), the M2, M6 and M8.

The Bessa R line has great ergonomics, but things are a bit unreliable here and there, depending on the model.

I think Mr. K. brought the rangefinder "cult" to more prominence, and I'm sure he owns a big chunk of credit for propelling a revival (which was just "a fad" about a decade ago). But you can't sustain a revival if that which is being revived cannot live on its own.

In the end, it's all about appealing to your market. Preferring a Kiev over a Contax, while owning Leicas proves that it is not about only the price, but whether it is worth owning.

People's prejudice over certain brands will never go away.

Nikon rangefinders are much more expensive than Leica rangefinders, and appeal more to collectors than actual, present-day photographers as a photographing tool. Yet Leica gets derided for their "niche"-filling and their prices, deriding by inference anything "made in Germany" justifying their high-prices, therefore justifying their derision.

Has anybody seen the prices for a new, Made in Germany, Zeiss ZM mount 85mm f/2 Sonnar? And the 90mm ASPH Summicron?

Who here makes fun of that? But if it's Leica, then it's fair game.

There's an opinion? Fine. But purely based on envy or just good old bashing for bashing's sake? That robs any seriousness from the "opinion". Now, if it's all in good humour, then let's deal with it with humour. But implicit derision throws all of that away.

If Leica makes commemoratives, they're filling a need in a market. Just like Nikon has done with their Millenium offering(s).

How many tongue-in-cheek threads have been made deriding Nikon's limited-edition offerings?

It's easy to kick the class-assigned donkey.

And now I'm off to shop for a Nikon 85mm f/2 LTM lens. To complement my 90mm f/2.8 Elmarit and CZJ 85mm f/2 Sonnar. I don't let blind prejudices get in the way of my photography.
 
Gabriel M.A. said:
And now for a pseudo-rant:

I have owned (and still own) a number of Leicas, rangefinder and otherwise. Bessas, Contax (rangefinders), Kiev...

I was lucky enough to have owned a Leica first (other figh-in words!), financially speaking. I've kept the Bessa-R, want the Contax IIIa back (which I sold preferring the Kiev III over it), the M2, M6 and M8.

The Bessa R line has great ergonomics, but things are a bit unreliable here and there, depending on the model.

I think Mr. K. brought the rangefinder "cult" to more prominence, and I'm sure he owns a big chunk of credit for propelling a revival (which was just "a fad" about a decade ago). But you can't sustain a revival if that which is being revived cannot live on its own.

In the end, it's all about appealing to your market. Preferring a Kiev over a Contax, while owning Leicas proves that it is not about only the price, but whether it is worth owning.

People's prejudice over certain brands will never go away.

Nikon rangefinders are much more expensive than Leica rangefinders, and appeal more to collectors than actual, present-day photographers as a photographing tool. Yet Leica gets derided for their "niche"-filling and their prices, deriding by inference anything "made in Germany" justifying their high-prices, therefore justifying their derision.

Has anybody seen the prices for a new, Made in Germany, Zeiss ZM mount 85mm f/2 Sonnar? And the 90mm ASPH Summicron?

Who here makes fun of that? But if it's Leica, then it's fair game.

There's an opinion? Fine. But purely based on envy or just good old bashing for bashing's sake? That robs any seriousness from the "opinion". Now, if it's all in good humour, then let's deal with it with humour. But implicit derision throws all of that away.

If Leica makes commemoratives, they're filling a need in a market. Just like Nikon has done with their Millenium offering(s).

How many tongue-in-cheek threads have been made deriding Nikon's limited-edition offerings?

It's easy to kick the class-assigned donkey.

And now I'm off to shop for a Nikon 85mm f/2 LTM lens. To complement my 90mm f/2.8 Elmarit and CZJ 85mm f/2 Sonnar. I don't let blind prejudices get in the way of my photography.
Click to expand...

Very well said 😱
 
Gabriel M.A. said:
I think Mr. K. brought the rangefinder "cult" to more prominence, and I'm sure he owns a big chunk of credit for propelling a revival (which was just "a fad" about a decade ago). But you can't sustain a revival if that which is being revived cannot live on its own.

In the end, it's all about appealing to your market. Preferring a Kiev over a Contax, while owning Leicas proves that it is not about only the price, but whether it is worth owning.

People's prejudice over certain brands will never go away.

Nikon rangefinders are much more expensive than Leica rangefinders, and appeal more to collectors than actual, present-day photographers as a photographing tool. Yet Leica gets derided for their "niche"-filling and their prices, deriding by inference anything "made in Germany" justifying their high-prices, therefore justifying their derision.

Has anybody seen the prices for a new, Made in Germany, Zeiss ZM mount 85mm f/2 Sonnar? And the 90mm ASPH Summicron?

Who here makes fun of that? But if it's Leica, then it's fair game.

There's an opinion? Fine. But purely based on envy or just good old bashing for bashing's sake? That robs any seriousness from the "opinion". Now, if it's all in good humour, then let's deal with it with humour. But implicit derision throws all of that away.

If Leica makes commemoratives, they're filling a need in a market. Just like Nikon has done with their Millenium offering(s).

How many tongue-in-cheek threads have been made deriding Nikon's limited-edition offerings?

It's easy to kick the class-assigned donkey.

And now I'm off to shop for a Nikon 85mm f/2 LTM lens. To complement my 90mm f/2.8 Elmarit and CZJ 85mm f/2 Sonnar. I don't let blind prejudices get in the way of my photography.
Click to expand...
Hard to argue with any of that.

Cheers,

R.
 
antiquark said:
Would it be this one?
http://www.cameraquest.com/lmp70.htm

It's celebrating the 70th anniversary in '83, after the M5 flopped and the M4-2 was released in '76-80...
Click to expand...

This has to be the correct answer. With the M4-P, Leica firmly re-established the M camera as their flagship model - and this special edition marked Leica's 70th anniversary as a company.

The M4-2 didn't save the company, but it did save the M line, which was about two years out-of-production when it was released.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom