pico Posted May 23, 2014 Share #61 Â Posted May 23, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) It looks like Leica is enjoying its new CNC machinery. Stainless steel can be very troublesome to machine, depending upon exactly which stainless formula is used. . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
russell c. greenberg Posted May 23, 2014 Share #62 Â Posted May 23, 2014 I would love to see this camera available to the public in black chrome as well as silver chrome. I am happy to see that this all mechanical, battery-less camera has a hot shoe as well. If Leica makes this camera available to the public, please make it affordable. The M7 and MP sell for for $4995/body only in the US. I hope that a production M-A would sell for considerably less as it is much simpler to maintain by an authorized repair facility. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted May 23, 2014 Share #63 Â Posted May 23, 2014 I would love to see this camera available to the public in black chrome as well as silver chrome. I am happy to see that this all mechanical, battery-less camera has a hot shoe as well. If Leica makes this camera available to the public, please make it affordable. The M7 and MP sell for for $4995/body only in the US. I hope that a production M-A would sell for considerably less as it is much simpler to maintain by an authorized repair facility. Â Ehm... I won't bet on this... ... apart any consideration on Leica prices in themselves, let's do a small exercise : Â - A Leica M4 , very fine, with original box and papers can be bought in the 2000+ $ range (see for example : http://www.leicashop.com/vintage_en/leica/leica-m-cameras/m4-chrome/leica-m4-chrome-sku22770-3.html?___from_store=vintage_de ... a costly shop, but let's suppose that this item really needs not a single additional cost for CLA) - A M-A , brand new, warranty etc... can cost only double of the above price ? - And, given the very SPECIAL buyer of those film cameras, would a potential buyer decide for a M-A instead of MP for the reason that it costs less ? I doubt... if one likes to have a film M and wants to spare money, the natural choice is looking at the very wide range of prices in the used market (the above example is at the upper limit..a good working M4 can be bought for half that price). I used various Leicas from 1983... and bought the first FACTORY NEW in 2007 (M8). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toshack10 Posted May 23, 2014 Share #64 Â Posted May 23, 2014 I was thinking about this earlier today. The strategy has worked wonders for Ferrari for years. They do a very limited run of very expensive "hypercars" and offer them to their well known buyers (Clapton, Rea, Mason, Bamford etc) and build the "luxury" and "exclusivity" of their brand. Occasionally, Eric will sell a car and mere mortals will see it at a show or in a museum. Â Why? Because Ferrari can! Would the "average" Ferrari buyer prefer a cheaper/more useable/reliable car? Nope, probably not Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Geschlecht Posted May 23, 2014 Share #65 Â Posted May 23, 2014 Hello Everybody, Â As per Ulrik's Post #3 yesterday: It does appear from the photo above his Post that the camera DOES have the appropriate cut out slightly offset between the 1/2 sec & 1/4. Originally this cut out was in the center between 1/2 & 1/5 when the camera first had a cut out & the engraved shutter speeds were different. Â Best Regards, Â Michael Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdsheepdog Posted May 23, 2014 Share #66 Â Posted May 23, 2014 It looks like Leica is enjoying its new CNC machinery. Stainless steel can be very troublesome to machine, depending upon exactly which stainless formula is used.. Â So true. I have heard a lot of bad language over the years from machinists, directed at a fiddly stainless billet that is not behaving itself in a lathe or milling machine chuck. Â The marine world uses predominantly type 316, and fastenings are commonly type 304, due its greater ease of machining, although lacking the corrosion resistance of type 316. Â What Leica is using would be fascinating to know, and my suspicion, and my hope, is that it is the same grade of Victorinox (I think) surgical stainless that Rolex uses for their stainless steel cases. It really does polish to a jewel like lustre, and mine, (a GMT master) despite being forever in and out of salt water, shows no staining whatever, unlike "cutlery" grade material. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted May 23, 2014 Share #67  Posted May 23, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) I have just finished a building that had all 316 stainless suppprt structure apart from an angle that our client insisted should be Duplex stainless steel to avoid tea-staining.  This had to be specially imported from Italy and cost an additional £80,000  316 will tea-stain of it's not looked after and cleaned regularly, but the Duplex seems immune from that. I would think that this new body is made from something beyond 316. High chromium content? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdsheepdog Posted May 23, 2014 Share #68 Â Posted May 23, 2014 Â 316 will tea-stain of it's not looked after and cleaned regularly, but the Duplex seems immune from that. I would think that this new body is made from something beyond 316. High chromium content? Â I suspect so, with probably a fairly high sulphide content for the sake of machining. Passivating, better electrically, but can be done locally chemically, will cut back tea staining hugely. We use a lot of duplex tubing for fuel and hydraulic systems, but it is hardly something to make cameras from. Â I still suspect Wegner (Victorinox) to be involved, which would possibly imply a Martensitic, and possibly magnetic alloy, rather than the more normal Austenitic alloys, the usual pick if machineability trumps ultimate corrosion resistance, being 303. Â One thing that I can be sure of, is that someone with a better metalurgical background than mine made the final choice. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
farnz Posted May 23, 2014 Share #69  Posted May 23, 2014 I suspect some cynics* may be among those queuing up for the 100th Anniversary MM and M-A.  Pete. *Oscar Wilde: “What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing." Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TW528 Posted May 23, 2014 Share #70 Â Posted May 23, 2014 I would love to see this camera available to the public in black chrome as well as silver chrome. I am happy to see that this all mechanical, battery-less camera has a hot shoe as well. If Leica makes this camera available to the public, please make it affordable. The M7 and MP sell for for $4995/body only in the US. I hope that a production M-A would sell for considerably less as it is much simpler to maintain by an authorized repair facility. Â I'm thinking $3995 best case scenario. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
semi-ambivalent Posted May 23, 2014 Share #71 Â Posted May 23, 2014 I'm thinking $3995 best case scenario. Â That's not going to attract too many new users, especially if you need to add , say, a 35mm Summarit. Looks like the used market will stay lively. Â s-a Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archiver Posted May 24, 2014 Share #72 Â Posted May 24, 2014 Â What Leica is using would be fascinating to know, and my suspicion, and my hope, is that it is the same grade of Victorinox (I think) surgical stainless that Rolex uses for their stainless steel cases. It really does polish to a jewel like lustre, and mine, (a GMT master) despite being forever in and out of salt water, shows no staining whatever, unlike "cutlery" grade material. Â Rolex steel = 904L, baby! Quite a bit more saltwater resistance than 316L, although the steel used in Sinn's diving watches is purportedly rated even higher than 904L, and is used in submarines. Â Whether Leica is using 316L or otherwise is another matter. Â This is an interesting article: Â http://thesydneytarts.blogspot.com.au/2011/08/tech-talk-no2-316l-vs-904l-grades-of.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandokan Posted May 24, 2014 Share #73 Â Posted May 24, 2014 I would suggest that Leica make cameras for the rest of us, and these special editions are for the "cynics". I have no problem with this edition. I still wish I had bought the Titanium M7 with lens. That was something practical and useable. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted May 24, 2014 Share #74 Â Posted May 24, 2014 I would say this one is in the same category. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kavandje Posted May 24, 2014 Share #75  Posted May 24, 2014 As it happens there has already been an MP that was utterly stripped-down: the 2004 (I think) MP Classic. 500 made, all black paint, in a set with a black-paint Summicron M 1:2/50. No meter, exposure dial accepts a Leicameter. Lens shade is also black paint and brass, as is the lens cap. From what I gather it was produced for the Asian market initially.  It wasn't very popular, and earned a lot of derision, but in my experience – I have one – it's a delightful camera, and since it came with a very nice lens, not even silly in terms of price. I had the 'Cron 6-bit coded a year or so ago, and it's probably one of the sharpest lenses I have. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted May 24, 2014 Share #76  Posted May 24, 2014 As it happens there has already been an MP that was utterly stripped-down: the 2004 (I think) MP Classic. 500 made, all black paint, in a set with a black-paint Summicron M 1:2/50. No meter, exposure dial accepts a Leicameter. Lens shade is also black paint and brass, as is the lens cap. From what I gather it was produced for the Asian market initially.  It wasn't very popular, and earned a lot of derision, but in my experience – I have one – it's a delightful camera, and since it came with a very nice lens, not even silly in terms of price. I had the 'Cron 6-bit coded a year or so ago, and it's probably one of the sharpest lenses I have. Yep.... I think the M-A has a different finder.. A Photo Visual Library on Leica MP Classic outfit - Part V - MIR Image Library Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdsheepdog Posted May 24, 2014 Share #77 Â Posted May 24, 2014 Rolex steel = 904L, baby! Â Cool, good information, thanks. I have often wondered what they used. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philipus Posted May 25, 2014 Share #78 Â Posted May 25, 2014 What does the "-A" stand for? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
farnz Posted May 25, 2014 Share #79 Â Posted May 25, 2014 What does the "-A" stand for? <Frowns> "-Analog" perhaps, Philip? Â (The use of "analog" in place of film irritates me.) Â Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philipus Posted May 25, 2014 Share #80 Â Posted May 25, 2014 Ah yes, that could be it Pete. Â -F would have been more appropriate though (but that could have resulted in at least a few unfortunate interpretation ) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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