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Lee Saxon wrote:
How hard is it to see that a camera that has no AF, no multi-zone exposure system, no weather sealing, no program or shutter priority modes....is, based on usefulness and even more so based on cost of production, worth 1/4 what Leica charges.
See, it works both ways.
1/4 of $5500.00 is $1375.00. There's no 35mm sensored camera in the world for that, new. The M220 is about double the cost of the cheapest 35mm sensored camera not 4x. Those cameras use a considerable amounts of plastic and are assembled by a robot. The M-E is made of solid brass plates and hand assembled. Your analogy is about the same as asking why a Porsche Carrera RS costs 4x as much as a Nissan GTR with the same engine capacity even though the RS has no radio or carpets. One's like driving a computer. One's had everything except the essentials stripped out to provide a simplified experience. It's more tactile. Some might say, more pure. There's nothing wrong with a GTR. Some people just prefer not driving a computer with wheels.
When most people use the term "you don't get it" often it's a put down, so I won't. But I'll say this. Until you've actually shot with a camera like a simple manual rangefinder, for a serious amount of time it's very hard to see what all the fuss is about. Playing with one at a Leica shop for 10 minutes won't do it. There's something different about the feel when you use a camera that's superbly hand built and that just offers you the essentials to make an image. There's also something very different in the files from a CCD sensor. While you see all the stuff that a camera like the M-E doesn't have as a deficit, I see a camera where endless menus and autofocus modes aren't getting in my way. i see a camera that doesn't get in my way all the time. It's all too easy to bash a camera like an M-E for what it doesn't have. But it's also possible to see that it does have some things most DSLR's don't. Simplicity. Ease of use. Tactility. Superb manual focus. Infinite depth of field through the viewfinder rather than viewing the world through a wide open lens. Being able to see what's outside the frame. Zone focusing. Balance in the hand. And of course access to all Leica's lenses without cropping them. And for me, they're just way more fun to shoot with. There's a connection there that just doesn't exist with a honkin' great DSLR. YMMV.
Leica's are a specialised camera for a particular type of shooter. They're hand assembled in germany. Specialised stuff costs more. Hand made stuff costs more. german stuff costs more. That's just the way it is.
Gordon
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