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what is a Leica and why is it so expensive?

They're well known for exceptional quality and incredible glass, typically in rangefinder form. Their prices are definitely inflated and are a very niche product.
 
Lensmaker. Some of their cameras are rebranded Panasonics. Panasonic uses their lenses for their cameras.
 
It's a cult where its members believe that the cameras are imbued with special powers in which the pictures taken with it will have this magical quality to it.

The lenses are all 60s style - manual focus and very high quality mechanical build. Most of them are all fast primes. IMO, get any high quality fast prime and it's going to have that special look to it.
 
Panasonic does make the digital bodies - but the glass is Leitz. I have my dad's Leica circa 1947-48, F/2 prime Summitar lens, focal plane 1/1000th sec shutter. A very advanced 35mm film camera for that era. It was reversed engineered by Canon for their early R/F film cameras.

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/Corky-G/leica.jpg
 
corkyg said:
Panasonic does make the digital bodies - but the glass is Leitz. I have my dad's Leica circa 1947-48, F/2 prime Summitar lens, focal plane 1/1000th sec shutter. A very advanced 35mm film camera for that era. It was reversed engineered by Canon for their early R/F film cameras.

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/Corky-G/leica.jpg
Click to expand...

Yes, but Panasonic uses Leica lenses (I believe exclusively). So they are basically fully rebranded Panasonics.
 
MJinZ said:
Yes, but Panasonic uses Leica lenses (I believe exclusively). So they are basically fully rebranded Panasonics.
Click to expand...

they're leica designed (maybe) but they're assembled by panasonic to lower quality standards than leica would so themselves.


leica's quality control is ridiculous (the rebadged panasonics likely don't go through this much QC but it is believed that they do go through more QC than regular panasonics)
 
MJinZ said:
Yes, but Panasonic uses Leica lenses (I believe exclusively). So they are basically fully rebranded Panasonics.
Click to expand...

Nope, not all Panasonic models use Leica glass.

Leica, like some other lens mfr's, license their name to camera companies, so long as the lenses produced are up to a certain standard. Allegedly.

I don't believe the Leica S models are rebranded Pannies.
 
astroidea said:
It's a cult where its members believe that the cameras are imbued with special powers in which the pictures taken with it will have this magical quality to it.

The lenses are all 60s style - manual focus and very high quality mechanical build. Most of them are all fast primes. IMO, get any high quality fast prime and it's going to have that special look to it.
Click to expand...
The canon and nikon fanboys are the exact same way. But I think leica only sells medium format cameras and thats why there so expensive.
 
elitejp said:
But I think leica only sells medium format cameras and thats why there so expensive.
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Uh, no. Most of Leica's cameras are either point and shoots or 35mm rangefinders. The cost comes from the craftsmanship and prestige associated with the brand. A Leica is like a Rolex in the camera world.
 
996GT2 said:
Uh, no. Most of Leica's cameras are either point and shoots or 35mm rangefinders. The cost comes from the craftsmanship and prestige associated with the brand. A Leica is like a Rolex in the camera world.
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yup...and like Rolex, you do at least get the quality you're paying for, though maybe not on comparable terms. Still, they're definitely NOT the Bose of the camera world.
 
I can attest to the superb optical and mechanical quality of their microscopes. Still, it's never inspired me to go buy a Leica camera. The cost is definitely a factor in that.
 
all the M series are hand made in germany. Now, Leica X1 (point & shoot) is also hand made in germany and will hold you back 2k. But you get an APS-C sensor inside a prime lensed body.
 
I think many are missing the point, the Leica camera company has a history stretching back to 1842 as a advanced microscope maker, and even predates the time original Leica joined the company.

But the point is and remains, the people that started and advanced the company were master mechanics and not bean counters, and it was later Leica that pioneered and advanced the 35mm film concept for still photography, first in rangefinder models of exceptional quality, and later on they pioneered the 35 mm single lens reflex concept
that became the standard for photojournalist candid shots.

Only later did we see competitors like Canon and Nikon rise to compete, on a platform of only slightly lesser quality and a much lower costs. But due to the fact that Leica, like all companies has to compete on price, we now see some compromises on quality.

Wiki has an interesting article on the history of Leica, and anyone can google Leica history.
 
And while you're at it, Google Ernst Leitz, the founder of Leica.
 
elitejp said:
The canon and nikon fanboys are the exact same way. But I think leica only sells medium format cameras and thats why there so expensive.
Click to expand...

on the contrary, leica is small format. they practically invented 35 mm photography, and all of their great historical cameras and reputation are 35 mm. they are just now launching something between small and medium format in the S slr range.


Lemon law said:
and later on they pioneered the 35 mm single lens reflex concept
that became the standard for photojournalist candid shots.
Click to expand...

not really. they did have the visoflexes that were interesting, but not really useful in the field. leica basically decided that the rangefinder was superior (and for anything between 24 mm and 135 mm it is more accurate at focusing) and stuck with that, and had to get minolta to build SLRs for them, later.

the first SLR that really hit it big with PJs was the nikon F.
 
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