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03-07-2013, 03:41 PM   #16
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QuoteOriginally posted by JJJPhoto Quote
Why buy a Leica?

Because Leica's are made by magical photographic fairies riding unicorns living on an island of clouds surrounded by an ocean of dreams.

Na Horuk, you can buy the actual M-series Leica red dot badge part for $20 or less online so "the red dot" isn't the source of the insane price:


I blame the high prices on import taxes and levies to offset the lost wages of local camera gnomes and lens trolls.
True fact: These gnomes (or their cousins) have also been seen to be working on FA lenses. Fairy dust!

03-07-2013, 03:43 PM   #17
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QuoteOriginally posted by stevebrot Quote
'cept the K-01 is no GT-R. The more appropriate analogy would be to my Altima 3.5 Coupe.

Nice car and fast, but different league and different purpose...




Steve

(...so much for car analogies...)
More like a Pontiac Aztek.
03-07-2013, 03:54 PM   #18
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QuoteOriginally posted by Sol Invictus Quote
More like a Pontiac Aztek.
Interesting ... I also owned a Pontiac Aztek! I'm not even joking. That was a great car/SUV even if most people thought it was ugly as sin.

It probably is fair to compare the K-01 to the Aztek. Both products are dismissed by most people because of their design and the fact it's hard to compare them directly against the competition (so they don't fit well in existing categories). Both are appreciated by people because they are packed with great features, affordable (because there wasn't much demand) and some owners even appreciate the weird looks because they like being different.
03-07-2013, 04:17 PM - 1 Like   #19
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QuoteOriginally posted by JJJPhoto Quote
Interesting ... I also owned a Pontiac Aztek! I'm not even joking. That was a great car/SUV even if most people thought it was ugly as sin.

It probably is fair to compare the K-01 to the Aztek. Both products are dismissed by most people because of their design and the fact it's hard to compare them directly against the competition (so they don't fit well in existing categories). Both are appreciated by people because they are packed with great features, affordable (because there wasn't much demand) and some owners even appreciate the weird looks because they like being different.
I hope the comparisons end there, seeing as Pontiac didn't fair too well after the Aztek era!

03-07-2013, 04:21 PM   #20
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QuoteOriginally posted by Sol Invictus Quote
I hope the comparisons end there, seeing as Pontiac didn't fair too well after the Aztek era!
But the maker, GM, is still doing well.
They got by with a little help from their friends, the US government.
Maybe PR needs a bailout.
03-07-2013, 05:46 PM   #21
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QuoteOriginally posted by JJJPhoto Quote
you can buy the actual M-series Leica red dot badge part for $20 or less online so "the red dot" isn't the source of the insane price:
It is not the red dot itself. I put one on an Argus I had. It sold for $2000 at a garage sale.
03-07-2013, 05:52 PM   #22
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Honestly, I don't mean to pooh-pooh Leicas. But I don't even pay attention to them any longer. Leicas were never cheap. But if that extra one-to-five percent of build quality, image quality and cachet is now this expensive, I can get by with Fuji and Pentax.

03-07-2013, 06:18 PM   #23
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I'm not willing to pay that much for a Leica ... but I am willing to dump that much cash on a 645D ... I just have to come up with a way to justify the expense. However, I doubt I'll be justifying that purchase anytime soon given how pleased I am with the results from APS-C sensors and even micro 4/3.
03-07-2013, 09:35 PM   #24
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Well, two or three years ago I bought a demo Leica M8.2 from Collectible Cameras at a very nice price (for Leica) and bought a 28mm f.2.8 Elmarit from B&H. I was looking to downsize to just one camera and one or two lenses. Sold my other camera equipment (still have a bit to sell) and until recently that was all I was using. When I bought the Leica Fuji hadn't come out with their rangefinder cameras, but I'm glad I got the Leica anyway. It's built like a tank, I love the fact that it's not autofocus, and the images - even though the M8.2 is only 10 MP - are wonderful. When the Pentax Qs came down so much in 2012 I bought one and when the Pentax K-01s were marked down for the Black Friday sales I bought a white one.
So much for downsizing... oh, well.
My wife and I did a car trip to Utah, Arizona and Nevada last September, and the only thing I shot with was the Leica and 28mm lens. Got a lot of fantastic photos. This September we're going to Glacier Nat'l Park, the Tetons and who knows what else, and once again I'll take the Leica, but this year I also plan on taking the K-01. Should be a lot of fun.
You can certainly question the prices for Leica gear - I don't know if I'll buy another Leica lens, because they are so expensive, but I don't regret buying it at all. Don't regret buying the Q or the K-01 either. Although my wife told me, when my Yellow K-01 arrived this week, "It's a good thing you have a wife that doesn't spend much money." Won't argue with that.
03-07-2013, 10:41 PM   #25
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QuoteOriginally posted by Sol Invictus Quote
More like a Pontiac Aztek.
Hysterical laughter...cannot quit...going red and then blue in the face...


Steve
03-07-2013, 10:42 PM   #26
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QuoteOriginally posted by civiletti Quote
It is not the red dot itself. I put one on an Argus I had. It sold for $2000 at a garage sale.
More laughter!
03-07-2013, 10:52 PM   #27
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QuoteOriginally posted by Sol Invictus Quote
True fact: These gnomes (or their cousins) have also been seen to be working on FA lenses. Fairy dust!
Especially the Pentax-L 43/1.8 Limited "Special". The only Pentax lens to have been made in Leica mount. Sorry, no auto focus.


Steve
03-08-2013, 05:46 AM   #28
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QuoteOriginally posted by stevebrot Quote
Especially the Pentax-L 43/1.8 Limited "Special". The only Pentax lens to have been made in Leica mount. Sorry, no auto focus.


Steve
These were hysterical, I remember times where Leica versions of 43 Limited were sold at 4x the price of Pentax version. Not sure what the price is now.
03-08-2013, 12:58 PM   #29
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QuoteOriginally posted by stevebrot Quote
Interesting idea, but not possible. The registration distance for Leica M is significantly less than for Pentax K.
It's possible, but probably impractical and I doubt it would be cheap. I wasn't talking about an adaptor. It would mean removing the K-mount and undertaking some modification to the body to adapt an M-mount, which is achievable but would require a precision machine-shop and a fair amount of consideration to make it look like a professional job. Even so, it might be a challenge to make it for less than the cost of a second-hand M8. Of course, if you have the design skills and your own machine-tools, and you don't cost your own time, it could be an economical little project. I'm not about to try.
03-09-2013, 02:13 AM   #30
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If DxO sensor scores had anything relevant to say about the image quality (not to mention the photographic quality) that could be achieved in real world photography, it might be worth paying attention to them; but they don’t.

I have both an M9 and a K-01 and enjoy them both. As much as I like the K-01, it isn’t my experience that it betters M9 IQ.

I bought a Leica because I wanted a small full-frame camera capable of exceptional IQ. I wanted to be able to use some of the best lenses ever made on a camera without an AA filter. For some applications I like the rangefinder method of viewing the scene and focusing. The form factor makes it unobtrusive and the shutter is relatively quiet. It’s a manual camera that requires of the user some understanding of photography. It’s not everybody’s cup of tea but for those of us who value these features, it is unique.

The new Leica M model has more bells and whistles and a CMOS sensor. It is a more versatile camera and will probably do better in the tests.
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