Well said,
rxmd.
The other thing that I find kind of funny is that so many DSLR users are arguing that their Canon/Nikon/whatever has just as good image quality for a fraction of the price. But they're completely missing the point, it's like they forget that Leica M cameras are rangefinders. I wonder if alot of them even realise that or know the differences to SLR...
They'd stop jacking up the prices if people
stopped buying them. That's a guarantee.
True. But people do keep buying them... so for me that kind of puts an end to the "inflated prices" argument. Makes sense, right?
The other thing I see alot of are people commenting that they'd buy a Leica M,
if they weren't so expensive. Others just outright categorise "rich people" as the only type of person who buys a Leica. That really gets my goat. :bang: They forget the fact that some people just have very clearly defined goals in life and know what they want, and they work their ass off to achieve it. For example I would not call myself rich, I earned average wage for about the last couple of years (less before then). I sold my DSLR gear that I had accumulated over 3-4 years to buy a used M8 and 50mm Summilux. Even selling all my DSLR gear my savings were emptied as well. But I do not regret it, not one bit! Saying that it's "too expensive" is just a cop out. If someone
really wanted one, they would work, save, and get it.
Another interesting comment that I saw on a photo blog article about the M Monochrom was the fact mentioned that if an artist sold one of their prints in a gallery, it would pay for the Monochrom. That makes sense to me, so I don't think the argument that this new camera and lens is only for collectors holds up.
In the meantime I'm sure that there will be plenty of armchair tough guys who continue complaining about Leica prices while remaining ignorant to the facts about rangefinder cameras and Leica glass...