KM-25 Posted June 8, 2010 Share #41 Posted June 8, 2010 Advertisement (gone after registration) I read your message and offer condolences for your frustrations. I would offer up the following option as something to consider. This is the very last year you will be able to have Kodachrome film processed. The last batch has already been manufactured, and is sold out at most stores, but is readily available on ebay. I picked up 16 rolls for what I am referring to as my "permanent memories" project. Kodachrome has the wonderful property of not fading, if stored properly, for many, many decades, perhaps as long as a century. I am shooting a roll or two this year at each significant event or location that I wish to document and enjoy for the rest of my life and for the enjoyment of the next two or three generations. You will likely make more trips to China in your lifetime, and will have access to even more wonderful digital tools for those trips. For this trip, consider taking your M7 only with your full selection of lenses and one or two rolls of Kodachrome per day. Don't take along the digital arsenal lest it be a temptation from your Kodachrome mission. Enjoy. Wonderful advice and very much true. Only, Kodachrome will not maybe last but easily last 100+ years if properly stored. I shoot on average 2-8 rolls per day depending on subject matter, light and energy level. In May alone, I shot 80 rolls in Paris, 25 rolls in Yosemite and I am now in New York City finishing up a three part piece on Times Square. Then off into the Mid-West for storm season, the Gulf for Oil Spill cleanup...on and on and on until the K-14 machine stops running... Day in, day out, my digital gear stays home for all of 2010 and I get more and more satisfaction out of reading light with a fine tooth comb and shooting KR64 and KM25 in my M6, M3, MP3 and XPan. When done, I will have shot over 40,000 Kodachrome images over a three year span with most being this year. In many ways, this has been so hard to do. Hard on my usual client base, hard on my girlfriend and extremely hard on my finances. Most of the time, I have many days of great shooting. But I have bad days too, I am flat, the light is flat..but I keep pushing my self to do well because I want people to treasure this book called "Color it Rains: Kodachrome at 75"... And nothing serves up Kodachrome better than Leica glass...so keep on shooting it until it is gone, for you will always cherish your last rolls of Kodachrome... A few from Paris: Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/122950-leica-i-am-really-disappointed/?do=findComment&comment=1346235'>More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted June 8, 2010 Posted June 8, 2010 Hi KM-25, Take a look here Leica, I am really disappointed.... I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Nikkor AIS Posted June 8, 2010 Share #42 Posted June 8, 2010 Fantastic Kodachrome images. Thanks for sharing. Gregory Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted June 8, 2010 Share #43 Posted June 8, 2010 An honesty apology from Leica would be nice for all Leica Fans. Leica did make mistakes at their marketing / sales department. They are promoting something that they could not keep up making it - that is the fact, isn't? Thanks again. Apologize for creating a successful product:confused: What mistakes did their department m,ake regarding the M9? The promotion of the camera was minimal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted June 8, 2010 Share #44 Posted June 8, 2010 I love Leica cameras and lenses, I do enjoy taking photos. However, I still do not understand why I have to wait for so long. It is almost $8,000.00 (after tax) for a single product, and it is NOT selling at Future Shop. Me, as a customer, should I expect a little bit more? An honesty apology from Leica would be nice for all Leica Fans. Leica did make mistakes at their marketing / sales department. They are promoting something that they could not keep up making it - that is the fact, isn't? Thanks again. What on earth have Leica got to apologise for ? I think this is a case of your own expectations being out of kilter with the reality of the situation. It took me a long time to get an iphone, with stores not having stocks of the model I wanted and me not wanting to go onto a waiting list for mail order - my choice so I waited. The demand for the M9 appears to have greatly exceeded Leica's own expectations, and therefore their manufacturing output limits. If they can only manufacture 100 cameras a week (for example) but there are 200 buyers per week it's obvious that people will have to wait. That said I've seen plenty of posts on this board for cameras that people have seen in stock at local stores, even my own little local dealer had a grey M9 available the other week. There have also been a couple offered for sale on the buy/sell forum here, so I'm not sure that you have been as thorough in your search for an M9 as you could have been. Have you asked your dealer if they have had ANY M9's in at all? They honestly haven't sold a single M9 to anyone yet? I suspect they have sold M9's to people higher up on their waiting list than you are. Far from making any mistakes, I think that Leica's marketing people have got it spot on this time, and the limited availability is only making it even more desirable to those who want one! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
frc Posted June 8, 2010 Share #45 Posted June 8, 2010 Being accused of being an elitist? What's the accusation here. I Wish it were easy being one. All the trouble I have with keeping parasites away. Wasting precious time while impressing people by frequently returning to airports after intentionally leaving my shades behind. There's hardly time left to watch my personnel polishing my collection or Rolls Royces, I missed the first brassing showing! Even worst is that I need to pretend to have to work as a night-watch at a psychiatric ward to partly pay for my expenses. It isn't easy being hyper-rich. Hrrruuummmph, elitist pigs,? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted June 8, 2010 Share #46 Posted June 8, 2010 I would love being one - just think of being bored all day - paradise... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BigSplash Posted June 12, 2010 Share #47 Posted June 12, 2010 Advertisement (gone after registration) ....and sometimes it helps if a company puts a customer orientate distribution strategy in place, once they realised that they had a major seller on their books and people would have to wait while production took place. You may note if you read my post that the strategy I proposed would depend upon the probity of dealers and that I therefore doubted if it could work. It is really a nonsense where someone has waited 4 months and is still without and they are on a dealer's shelf somewhere else. I cannot think of a better way to put people's back up and send them to Canon/Nikon. Wilson Wilson I fully agree with you and would add that Classic Cameras in UK are not a franchised UK dealer and live off so called grey imports. .....How can Leica allow that? I can tell you that Bang and Olufsen would shut down any of their dealers that started shipping around grey imports as that is ruinous for the brand in the long run. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted June 12, 2010 Share #48 Posted June 12, 2010 What have Classic Camera got to do with this? And how can Leica shut down an independent dealer, as most of them are? If they are worried about greys, they need to find the source of them. It's not illegal to sell a grey, unless you pass it off as authorised stock with a Passport. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BigSplash Posted June 12, 2010 Share #49 Posted June 12, 2010 What have Classic Camera got to do with this? And how can Leica shut down an independent dealer, as most of them are? If they are worried about greys, they need to find the source of them. It's not illegal to sell a grey, unless you pass it off as authorised stock with a Passport. The OP is talking about Leica having control of where the product goes. Wilson Laidlaw made the point that this could be better controlled. Classic Camera is unofficially buying from sources other than Leica UK as I have been told and therefore some dealers are helping to make this happen and are making it presumably more difficult for Leica to control the support to dealers and clients that have back orders since months. If it is true that one can buy "off the shelf" at a lower price in Hong Kong then I would believe that Classic Camera will be well placed to get units before official UK dealers that are being drip fed by MK. Is that good? It is not illegal to sell grey products. Within the EU it is somewhat difficult (illegal) for companies to stop UK people buying a product in say Germany, or Denmark as many people do when buying cars. Furthermore according to the Treaty of Rome once a product is sold to XX then the ownership of that product goes to the new owner (XX) and he can resell to others unless there are restrictions within the sale contract (eg Military useful software). Despite the above companies such as Bang and Olufsen exert control over their dealers. They will identify a serial number and know exactly where the item was sourced and they will close that dealership down if they break the code of conduct expected of B&O dealers. I think Leica need to take a similar view and control the source of supply to their dealers. I also think that it is wrong that in UK the warranty is 2 years, is transferrable and covers accidental damage...while in other markets it is 1 year, is not transferrable, and does not cover accidental damage. The cameras cost the same world wide and is a branded item from a reputable company that is trying to upgrade its channels to market. I think there are some anomalies here that are easy to fix. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted June 12, 2010 Share #50 Posted June 12, 2010 What's tje point of a Common Market, if you prevent me buying in another member state? No point at all. The Passport warranty is a benefit from Leica UK. If Leica US or Leica Anywhere else want to offer their customers this benefit, then I'm sure no one would complain. But it's ridiculous to complain that because no other distributor offers this benefit, UK shouldn't. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted June 12, 2010 Share #51 Posted June 12, 2010 I also think that it is wrong that in UK the warranty is 2 years, is transferrable and covers accidental damage...while in other markets it is 1 year, is not transferrable, and does not cover accidental damage. The cameras cost the same world wide and is a branded item from a reputable company that is trying to upgrade its channels to market. I think there are some anomalies here that are easy to fix. It is one year.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoppyman Posted June 13, 2010 Share #52 Posted June 13, 2010 The standard international warranty is two years in fact. I agree that the Passport system is very generous. Effectively it is adding damage insurance to cover for the UK folks. Good luck to you guys. Perhaps there is a price difference initially to compensate? I don't know. I just checked and converting directly with our rather volatile exchange rate here right now, the M9 sells for about GBP 5000 or about 6050 EUR here currently with tax. Does that make anyone feel better or worse? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nugat Posted June 13, 2010 Share #53 Posted June 13, 2010 You have M9s in European webstores. Just do some search. Eg in my home Poland this and 10 other sites. Leica Store, sklep z Leikami - Strona główna Click "M-system" on the left. You can change currency to EUR/USD on the right in "Waluty" window. The price includes 22% VAT, N/A for export outside EU. Also the current exchange rate to USD is 1PLN=3.50USD "Wyprzedany" means "SOLD", like next to the special M7 Hermes edition. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BigSplash Posted June 13, 2010 Share #54 Posted June 13, 2010 What's tje point of a Common Market, if you prevent me buying in another member state? No point at all. The Passport warranty is a benefit from Leica UK. If Leica US or Leica Anywhere else want to offer their customers this benefit, then I'm sure no one would complain. But it's ridiculous to complain that because no other distributor offers this benefit, UK shouldn't. Andy the EU law is supportive of cross border buying as I said in my posting....they have even taken action against car makers that tried to prevent this. However several companies such as B&O enforce a policy where "dealers" cannot ship product across countries or intercontinental boundaries. It has something to do with wishing to offer a quality LOCAL service to the buyer, which is perhaps a bad thing. The Passport is a great scheme .....why should it not be beneficial to fan this great scheme out worldwide. Why is it a good thing to have different warranty arrangements and different business by region. In my view when I buy Leica PRODUCT it is more than just a great camera body and a bunch of interchangeable lenses it includes a warranty, customer service and repair, accessories, etc etc I find it odd that apparently you find it acceptable that these intangible yet valuable items may vary across the globe and that is OK because Leica USA for example have a different approach towards their client base. What am I missing? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted June 13, 2010 Share #55 Posted June 13, 2010 Commonsense. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbaron Posted June 13, 2010 Share #56 Posted June 13, 2010 Your contract of sale is with the person or shop that you buy your camera from, Frank. Not Leica. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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