m8 owners: what's your annual income?

[Petroleum V. Nasby]

I think most respondents are going to give ridiculous answers to this poll.

There's no way it is valid.

Anyway, I'm not a dentist, I'm a proctologist.

 

[tomasis]

when i was jobless, I managed buy m4 and cron 😀 Anything is possible.

 

[amigadave]

I'm a PhD student and "earn" around $25000 a year. I have an M8, a couple of lenses, a Z3100 printer and all sorts of other goodies. I'm just an amateur, but enjoy what I do and appreciate quality equipment. In England most people are very protective of their income, but it doesn't bother me one bit if another person knows exactly how much I get paid. Being a student for six years gives you an interesting perspective to money; I don't think a "low" income precludes "expensive" possessions.

 

[kxl]

1) Being able to afford something and having something are two different things. A $5000 purchase works out to about $20 per month if you put it on a credit card and make minimum payments -- i.e., if you want something badly enough, you'll find a way.

2) No one coming in through the front end of RFF will be able to associate your response with your user ID, but since you have to first log in to respond to the poll, someone coming in through RFF's back end would certainly be able to associate your response with your user ID. I'm not saying that someone would do that, but it is obviously possible...

 

[kbg32]

It's not how much you make, it is how much you save. I also work two jobs.

 

[kbg32]

about British Pounds 30K a year, and yes, i am not a dentist!! 😡

There are no dentists in England anyway!

😀

 

[blw]

I'm offended that I don't own an M8 and therefore can't respond to the poll!

 

[bottley1]

There are no dentists in England anyway!

😀

oh, behave!

 

[historicist]

There are dentists in England, but you either can't get an appointment or can't afford them 😉

 

[jky]

Too many zeroes to count.... on the wrong side of the decimal...

 

[Olsen]

Again, currency rates play a role here.

I found an old National Geographic magazine from the late 60' with a Leica add promoting Leica M3 for $ 465 ex. lense. In 1970 I made 27.000 NOK ($ 3,781 at the currency rate of NOK 7,14 to the dollar which was the going fixed rate back then) annually working part time at a Norwegian ship broker company in 'The City' (of London). It was a lousy salary back then. No way I could afford a M3. Many young men working in 'the City' earned a lot more than me. Much due to the strong £ back then (NOK 21,00 to the Pound). Through the next couple of years the Pound was devaluated down to half the value and has stayed there since, compared to NOK. Similarly, the dollar fell from NOK 7,14 to NOK 4,85 in the late 70'. While the German Marks was very strong and made Leica cameras just as costly even ten years later. But the dollar climbed from the 4,85 low to as high as 9,95 in the late 90' making even Leica gear rediculously cheap for American consumers for many years, - while they were still 'forbiddingly expensive' for us Europeans.

Going back to the 50' when many US troops served in 'West Germany', Leica cameras were even cheaper to buy for Americans with their strong currency.

And, as mentioned many times before; the old WWII Leicas - with film inside with unique pictures from the Eastern Front, could be traded from German POW's for a kilo of butter back in 1946. - They have never been more expensive...

Relative to our purchasing power, Leica gear has never been cheaper - for us Norwegians, than it is today.... While it is the oposite for Americans.

But now the dollar is rizing...

 

[BillBingham2]

I'd love to see more...

I'd love to see more...

I'd like to see a multi-question survey that spoke to any one who purchased a new Leica M, one response per M purchased new. So say if you purchased a new M3, then a new M6 and say a new M8.2, you would have three full responses. The first questions would be were/are you a pro when you purchased you M new, total household income at the time and would/have you purchase an new M 8.2 on your current income. Would you if they were say $4500, $3000 or $1900 (separate questions for each)?

I think Leica has gone up into a market that is too high for many of their old customers. Remember when the M4 came out there were not many (I think any) other RFs in production, SLRs with AE were becoming the rage.

B2 (;->

 

[retow]

i'm curious to know how this poll turns out. maybe it will cast a new light on all of these discussions about how expensive the m8 is, and leica products in general.

note: the options are based on the tax brackets in the us.

Let me enlighten you a little. Often times wealthy people have low or even no income, whereas those with high income might be highly indebted. Hope this helps to even more misinterprete poll's result 🙄

 

[jke]

Olsen - I think the reason that income will never be published in the United States is that it doesn't need to be. The US (contrary to public opinion) has one of the highest personal income tax compliance rates in the developed world. Given that high rate of compliance, the publication of income, which would cost money in resources and man-power to collect, organize and reproduce, would be a waste of money.

Norway is also a small country with a population just shy of 5 million people. I live in NYC where 4 million people ride the subway every morning, and the total population is 12 million. The total population of the United States is 305 million. The logistics of publishing the incomes of 305 million people would be quite an undertaking.

We tend to see our own country as the null value when judging the activities of other countries. Most Americans find the rules governing what you can and cannot name your child in some countries in Europe, Norway included, to be draconian. But that doesn't mean that Norway is incorrect to have those rules. And while our affection for privacy might seem strange to you, it is our affection and not yours.

 

[Stu W]

I'm rich as of yesterday. I purchased AIG with my hard earned tax dollars and I didn't even know it! Those 7 digit salaries are safe for a while.

 

[jack palmer]

I was a student at The Maryland Institute College of Art on scholarship in 1970 with no real income to speak of and bought a new Black NIkon Ftn with 50mm lens. I put it on lay-away and would stop by the store with $10 or $20 whenever I had the money. I had a stack of receipts 3 inches thick but I got that camera. I believe if you want something and it's important to you, you'll find a way to make it happen no matter your income.

 

[tmfabian]

off topic but there's a pretty nice bell curve being created here.

 

[sepiareverb]

I'm rich as of yesterday. I purchased AIG with my hard earned tax dollars and I didn't even know it! Those 7 digit salaries are safe for a while.

No, worry not, that wasn't your tax dollars, that was fresh new money, specially made for the occasion, rumor is it is to be delivered in a humidor.😀

No M8 here either.

 

[shimo-kitasnap]

M8's don't guarantee income either. My point was if I had that kind of money, I'd spend on something a bit more substantial than just a camera.

 

[Olsen]

Olsen - I think the reason that income will never be published in the United States is that it doesn't need to be. The US (contrary to public opinion) has one of the highest personal income tax compliance rates in the developed world. Given that high rate of compliance, the publication of income, which would cost money in resources and man-power to collect, organize and reproduce, would be a waste of money.

Norway is also a small country with a population just shy of 5 million people. I live in NYC where 4 million people ride the subway every morning, and the total population is 12 million. The total population of the United States is 305 million. The logistics of publishing the incomes of 305 million people would be quite an undertaking.

We tend to see our own country as the null value when judging the activities of other countries. Most Americans find the rules governing what you can and cannot name your child in some countries in Europe, Norway included, to be draconian. But that doesn't mean that Norway is incorrect to have those rules. And while our affection for privacy might seem strange to you, it is our affection and not yours.

As you know: This is a photo discussion site. Not a political one. I have to say, very politely that; 'I don't agree with you'. Freedom of information is vital in a democracy. I would love to air my arguments and to discuss this with you, but many here don't like political discussions.