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Post by Rachel on Feb 19, 2009 15:02:39 GMT -5
My collection of Leica compacts ...  Leica Mini Zoom  Leica C3  Leica Minilux Zoom |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2009 18:34:51 GMT -5
Rachel:
I didn't realize you were a Leica collector.
Over the years I've owned three M3. I loved the feel of the M, the construction and the sound of that ball bearing shutter at 1/4 second. But I always ended up selling them because I didn't use them much and there was some other piece of photo gear I wanted more.
I shot a lot with a black Canadian-built M4 when I was in the Army (wish I had it now), although the M4s seemed a little lighter than the M3--probably a good thing.
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Post by Rachel on Feb 20, 2009 8:35:11 GMT -5
Wayne ... I have been collecting Leicas for a long time now but they are very expensive even secondhand so I can't usually afford them. Just occasionally I find a bargain ... Brac ... I don't know who makes the Leica compacts. I'm sure it's not Leica. They are hideously expensive though for what they are. Some would say that about all Leicas  New Leicas are way too expensive for me so used ones are my only option. One Leica compact that I do covet is the Leica CM which a friend of mine has but they seem to be rarer than hens teeth in the UK. |
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sl
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Post by sl on Feb 24, 2009 23:37:19 GMT -5
Wayne ... I have been collecting Leicas for a long time now but they are very expensive even secondhand so I can't usually afford them. Just occasionally I find a bargain ... Brac ... I don't know who makes the Leica compacts. I'm sure it's not Leica. They are hideously expensive though for what they are. Some would say that about all Leicas The current Leica digital compacts are made by Panasonic. I don't know either who made the Leica film compacts, but if I would have to guess, I would say Minolta or perhaps Konica. Canon and Nikon have never been in the OEM business. Besides, apart from some 1980s models and the 28/35Ti Nikon did not make their own film compacts either. Yashica/Kyocera is unlikely due to the Zeiss/Contax connection. Ricoh of course is a possibility as well, and at least from early 1990s on Panasonic. I collect certain types of autofocus compacts, but I don't have any Leicas since they are so expensive even now. I don't know if I even wanted one, since I probably couldn't actually use it lest I scratch it and ruin its collectible value. That's not a problem with the Ricoh FF-70 I currently carry in the pocket of my overcoat... |
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Post by herron on Feb 25, 2009 17:10:45 GMT -5
Panasonic makes the mini- Lumix, under license to Leica - and I've been told by some knowledgeable photographers that it's a very smart piece of equipment, and its Leica Vario-Summicron lens is tack sharp. I'm saving my pennies to add one to my "always carry with you" arsenal.  |
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seele
Contributing Member
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Post by seele on Apr 5, 2010 13:04:31 GMT -5
Sorry for coming in late.
The first outsourced Leica compact was a badge-engineered Minolta zoom compact, afterwards Leica went to Matsunutssa (best known for its Panasonic brand), who owns a division called "West" which produced photographic equipment; occasionally you can still find West-branded bulb flashguns etc, and the working relationship carries on.
For the simplest Leica compacts they were sourced from an even lower-priced suppler; the Leica Mini was built by Hyundai; in fact the same camera was sold under that name. Understandably Leica supporters kept saying how the Leica version fully justified the price (and the red dot) which was several times that of the Hyundai-badged model. But then, would you willingly choose to buy a Hyundai camera?
The first series of Leica digital compacts were sourced from Fuji, however.
Since Matsunutsa/West also produced film compacts at the time Leica asked them to make the Minilux series but without making Panasonic versions, so as to prevent people getting the same cameras at lower prices. These days, Leica digital compacts are basically identical to Panasonic ones but Leica keeps saying that the Leica versions have somewhat better firmware, thus worth the extra mark-up. I feel that it is a bit far fetches, like saying the Leica mini is worth the mark-up over the Hyundai-badged version.
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Post by Rachel on Apr 6, 2010 9:38:05 GMT -5
Hi seele .... I guess that I had better respond as I started this thread Thanks for the information about manufacturers. Don't Hyundai make cars? I expect that people buy them  I've only ever bought one new Leica and that was an M6 and it was on one of those rare occasions when I had more money than sense ( the rare occasion was having the money not the sense ). There is no doubt that their main range cameras are beautifully built and a pleasure to use but I don't think that it justifies their prices but then I expect that they sell far fewer cameras than most other manufacturers. Their compacts, as I said before, are hideously expensive for what they are and I only buy them out of interest if I can get them cheaply. I have now acquired a Leica CM from a friend for a very reasonable price as the dealer he bought it from has offered him so little to buy it back. Anyway thanks for the input seele. |
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seele
Contributing Member
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Post by seele on Apr 6, 2010 11:18:37 GMT -5
Rachel,
Hyundai is one of those mega-corporations with many divisions in as many different fields, which are pretty much independent of each other in operation. Other such corporations in South Korea include Samsung, Daewoo, etc; and similar ones in Japan include Mitsubishi, Toyo, etc.
By the way, do you know that Nikon was established and owned by Mitsubishi all those years ago and still within the Mitsubishi group?
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Post by Rachel on Apr 6, 2010 15:30:52 GMT -5
Hi seele ...
Yes it's often quite surprising to find what companies are owned by who and this applies in all sorts of businesses. Of course there is always a lot of buying and selling of companies so they can change hands quite often.
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photax
Lifetime Member
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Post by photax on Apr 7, 2010 12:25:18 GMT -5
I used a`92 Leica mini during the1990s as a pocket camera and it delivered fantastic pictures. I don’t know if I would had bought a Hyundai mini ( with or without a red dot ), but, the necessary money provided, if you buy a Rolls Royce these days, you will also get a BMW powered car with an “Emily” decoration MIK |
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Post by pompiere on Apr 8, 2010 1:43:42 GMT -5
Sorry for coming in late. The first outsourced Leica compact was a badge-engineered Minolta zoom compact, I have the Minolta version of that camera, the Freedom Tele in the US, also known as the AF-Tele Super. The Leica version was the AF-C1. The lens is sharp, but the flash is slow to charge, and in low light, you don't get a choice, you have to wait. It also uses a $10 2CR5 battery. Now that I have another camera that can use that battery, I may let the Minolta go. |
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Post by Rachel on Apr 9, 2010 16:27:23 GMT -5
Gosh I don't pay $10 for a 2CR5 battery I bought a couple for £5 just recently and I would think that you can get them cheaper than that if you buy in quantity or shop around. |
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