Just plain silly..

The last time I bought a Leica M was in 88..when I got my m6..
I still have it..
The last time I got a Leica lens was at least 12 years ago..an f1 noct..at $1300- for mint..
Still have it..
But today..
Leica m's are the cams of shooters of family babies..barkin dogs...and the kitty cat..
Or in Ralph Gibsons world..the nude pussy..hahaah...just kiddin..
But..
I used to work the color printer in a photo lab..and we got tons of those kind of dog and cat pics everyday...and way too many..droolin babies...from $20- point and shoot cams only though..not Leica M's..
Oh..the world has changed..
 
Ralph Gibson will never get to the end of its capabilities because his current life expectancy is 3 years…. :)

Dante
 
3 years expectancy..is way longer than the life expectancy..of the M240..
Which is pretty much gurranteed to go back to the factory for repairs..right out of the box..or soon after..
And in a short year or 2..be relegated..to the life of ..an ice rink hockey puck..or doorstop..
 
Dante_Stella said:
Ralph Gibson will never get to the end of its capabilities because his current life expectancy is 3 years…. :)

Dante
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Well played!

noisycheese said:
I (and apparently more than a few others) find it distasteful that Leica cameras and lenses have come to be regarded as status symbols.

M cameras were born to run - created for photographic greatness, not to bolster the needy egos of mega-wealthy dilletantes and celebritwat posers.

Unfortunately those who run the home office in Solms have made mega-wealthy dilettantes and celebritwat posers their target market, much to the discomfiture of real photographers.
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I'm right there with you.

Phil Forrest
 
I run a programme about business planning and strategy for senior execs. These guys have hobbies that consume money at rapid rates: Ocean sailing, golf trips, classic cars, not classic cars, aircraft and so on. I used the analogy of a Swiss watch to demonstrate what happens to the money when a person pays $1,000,000 for a diamond encrusted watch. The great aspect about this retail event is the way in which the money gets quickly distributed to the artisans, contractors, households of the employees of multiple and various suppliers right through to the raw material miners, exploited or not.
I applaud any vehicle that takes money out of the pockets of those who do not need it and place it in the pockets of those who do - it's a bit like a wealth tax - and Leica have been doing this for some years.
like Emile above, it has been a long time since I acquired my only 'new' film camera, a Leica M6 in 1989 followed shortly after by the purchase of a new 28mm. I have no interest in digital or for that matter new Leicas but am happy to see them finding a way to survive in the current madness.
Analogue Photography has emerged as a niche with the advent of digital, and so has returned to the domain of the enthusiast and I like that too. I hope that film outlasts me as a product and that Leica continue to feed the secondhand market with film cameras that I might buy in years to come.
Love Ralph's pictures, he found a unique voice.
I'm off to have my top plate silvered.
kevin
 
Leica has been doing this for decades and so it's nothing new really. Look at all those special editions from the Brunei edition to the Hermes, etc..

Anyway, $28k for a multimillionaire or billionaire is the pretty much the same thing as you and I buying a generic Leica for $5k. It's all relative.

I do agree that it can be disturbing seeing a product being sold primarily for its bling and not just for its functionality. It's kind of like seeing the same car you drive (and saved your hard earned cash to buy) all ghetto-ized with gold trim and 20" rims by some baller from the 'hood. :)
 
Decline from greatness?

Oh, come on.

Ever heard of a Leica Luxus?

What's "silly" about limited editions to make a profit and keep Leica in business?

Yes, from my point of view, anyone who buys one of these is silly, but then, people who buy expensive gym shoes are pretty silly too.

If the camera were downright ugly and useless, like the Apple Leica, that would be a lot sillier -- except that as I recall, that was sold for charity which is not silly at all.

Cheers,

R.
 
A Rolex or Piaget watch will keep time as accurately a my ratty 30+ year old Seiko. I'm pretty sure my old Nikon F3 will perform as well as a Leica M9.

I think it is OK to sport status symbols if we like, but lets call things what they are.
 
Leica should make an internal policy that for ever dumb limited edition special they sell, they should donate an MP with a single lens to a random school's photography club. it could even be a demo model.

i suppose an M7 would be ok too, but less optimal.
 
Everytime one of these special edition cameras is released, someone makes a thread. Get over it... Leica is not stopping this behavior and it isn't the 1950s.
 
literiter said:
A Rolex or Piaget watch will keep time as accurately a my ratty 30+ year old Seiko. I'm pretty sure my old Nikon F3 will perform as well as a Leica M9.

I think it is OK to sport status symbols if we like, but lets call things what they are.
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A Leica is not inherently a status symbol. It's merely a very expensive camera. But if you want a full-frame digital rangefinder camera, it's the only game in town.

Cheers,

R.
 
Spicy said:
Leica should make an internal policy that for ever dumb limited edition special they sell, they should donate an MP with a single lens to a random school's photography club. it could even be a demo model.

i suppose an M7 would be ok too, but less optimal.
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Why? And what's dumb about special editions? If they keep Leica in business, what is your problem?

Also, how many school photography clubs are you familiar with? From the careful way you have thought this through, I suspect that the answer is "none". I've run a couple.

Cheers,

R.
 
Roger, my reference to the 1950s was more about it seemingly being the heyday for Leica for most folks at RFF... not in regard to special editions.
 
I bought 34 of them. Wonder who got the 35th? :D

(Hay, it was either this or feed a small village in Africa for a year.)
 
jsrockit said:
Roger, my reference to the 1950s was more about it seemingly being the heyday for Leica for most folks at RFF... not in regard to special editions.
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Indeed; you are of course quite right. I was just trying to remind others -- not you -- that (a) Leicas are and have always been expensive cameras; (b) have been made as special editions for over 80 years; (c) are not status symbols unless you are the kind of person that cares about status symbols, rather than the sort of person who likes rangefinder cameras as a means of taking pictures.

What puzzles me is which is sillier: whingeing and snivelling about cameras we're not going to buy (sometimes the default RFF position for some people) or making limited-edition cameras to help keep a great company in business.

Cheers,

R.
 
I am still upset that Leica is producing digital cameras just because there is a market for them :)

(the fact that they probably make more profit on a Monochrome then they did on all of my film cameras put together is no excuse)
 
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