The new Leica M-A

[sunshine51]

Note an absense of a particular Leica trait? Please continue...

Well...Leica has taken the retro thing to a new level. Bye Bye Nikon Df!

This new beauty doesn't have an electronic sensor inside it because

it is a film camera. And y'all thought film and the shooting thereof was

a has been...hah!

This new Leica doesn't have a heap of automated features. It's a bare

bones mechanical camera. There is no built in light meter...hope y'all

remember the "sunny 16" rule of thumb or save up for a good light meter.

And since Kodak Tri-X is also 60 years old...as is Leica's M system, if

you buy the camera you get some Tri-X too included in the purchase.

How's that for a deal?!

For some reason I envisage fimgirl having a gentle jiter in his chair

right now because I'm sure he knows about this lovely piece of

workmanship. Heck...my heart rate has just increased a few BPM's

...hah!

No more from me...folks interested should look at these websites

then perhaps at the bank balance...because...as Leica's go...

the M-A isn't cheap.

http://petapixel.com/2014/09/16/leica-unveils-new-mechanical-m-typ-127-film-rangefinder/

http://us.leica-camera.com/Photography/Leica-M/Leica-M-A

[tw25rw]

They already make all mechanical film cameras, so I'm not sure why they brought out another.

[rhythmworx]

Sunshine, what makes Leica cameras so expensive?

I know they were popular back in the old days and still to this day but....

What would be the difference in output when shooting a Leica v's something like a Nik FM3A with Tri-X or any other 35mm film?

I just cant see the price justification myself but maybe I'm missing something.

[sunshine51]

@ rhythmworx...

What makes Leica cameras so expensive? I have been asking myself that same question

for well over 30 years! However...exquisite precision engineering does come at a price for

starters. Case in point...a Leica will outlast any Nikon or Canon given reasonable usage

& not trashed. Next up has to be Leica glass...starting from selection of the optical glass

itself through to the finished product. Leica's tolerances are so tight and both the camera

bodies & lenses perform flawlessly for ages...again given reasonable usage and the odd

return to Leica for servicing every now & then.

The best example I can give of why a Leica is so expensive is this...I have a KE-7A which

is basically an M-4 built to US military specifications. I managed to liberate one complete

kit: body, 50mm f2.0 ELCAN lens, leather case & neck strap, operating manual, front &

rear lens caps...all packed in a sealed aluminised "bag" for want of a better word...read

military packaging...that came in a reinforced impregnated cardboard packing box just a

few days before we left Cambodia on 10 April 1975. My KE-7A and its supplied lens is

the only camera I have never traded in, sold or lost or otherwise disposed of...until this

very day. With my Niks...I buy the glass and it seems that I only lease the bodies as I

trade bodies in or flog em off when proven new models are on the market.

The KE-7A was manufactured in mid 1973 from the military serial number on it so;

the camera is 41 years old today...and with the exception of sending it to Leica only

twice in that period of time...it still works perfectly...just like it did the day I opened

that aluminised bag after opening the impregnated cardboard "shipping" box, loading

a roll of Tri-X & having a go with it in PNH on a humid sunny day in 1974...Feb or March,

but I'm not so sure of the exact date these days. Film advance is nice & smooth,

rewind is the same, the shuter is as near to being silent (why the military used em in

the first place) as silent can be, it's built very strong & although it weighs a bit more

than an M-4...it doesn't weigh much more & it's a very tough "lttle" camera that was

designed to take some very hard knocks and still work as advertised.

My M-6 is the first Leica that I ever bought...way back in 1990...it still works the same

today as it did the moment I took it from the hands of David Chan at his camera store

in Hong Kong (who took it outta the box), tossed in a roll of Tri-X and fired off a few frames.

I have never had a jam or any failure whatsoever with my Leica's...none. My M-9 is the

same. There's just zero hiccups on the part of Leica itself and their product. Perhaps

& I say this in a humorous spirit...there may be a few hiccups with the camera in the

owners hands and this arises from the owner...not the camera! Leica's just work...they

work very well in any conditions that can be thrown at them and they keep on working

like this. I have never had anything "break" on my Leica's...nothing. And all I do is every

few years I send em to Leica for routine test & check & possibly a lube job if needed.

They return to me with a full report of any action taken & usually a nice note from the

tech or engineer who performed the servicing that..."Camera is in as new condition".

To me...one pays a heap of $$$$ for the camera's ability to simply...just work as

advertised regardless of age.

And I do actually reckon, unless one orders a custom built Leica (can do that ya know)

without that red meatball on the front...one pays dearly for that red, can see from Mars,

Leica logo! These days, perhaps taking a cue from the old KE-7A, Leica is making bodies

without that red ball....and charging dearly for it. Leica also has a "stealth" custom jobber

or ability if custom ordered...no Leica logo's at all...just a nondescript serial number barely

visible. And yeah...one pays for that too!

And in this day & age of almost everything being automated, even a production line,

or being farmed out to turd world nations for cheap labour manufacture so the maker

can keep a nifty profit margin up...it's nice to own something built by hand to exacting

tolerances that lasts virtually....forever.

In the words of a wise old sage of long ago...You get what you pay for.

NB....Forgot to add an answer to your question about the difference 'tween a

Leica & a Nik FM....the difference is mainly the glass in a Leica lens and how

that glass is put together in the lens body plus some secret Leica magic we'll

never know about. Hey...Nik's glass is very good also...especially their primes

but Leica's are much better.

Edited September 18, 2014 by sunshine51

[rhythmworx]

Thanks for your answer SS, I guess they are like the Cartier of the camera world.

Are the new models still hand built?

[sunshine51]

^^^ RW...I actually don't have a clue to how much automation they use so I cannot

answer that truthfully. Mind you I'd facy a guess & say that most of the production

is still by hand...if not all of it...hence...their price. However...their lenses are still

hand made. Maybe we should send em an email and ask...first one to receive a

reply & post it here wins a 36 exp roll of Tri-X!

Edited September 18, 2014 by sunshine51