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I, for one, love how Leica makes cameras that extremely picky and demanding people want. Not saying that anyone here, of course, except myself, is in that category. This camera represents the niche of a niche of a niche of a niche -- I'm thinking dedicated camera, optical finder, manual focus, screen-less -- when other companies are struggling to find a way forward in only the first niche of "dedicated camera." The fact that the M-D exists at all is interesting both photographically and economically. I don't see myself buying it, but I love that Leica was able to release it and went ahead and did just that.

 

Cheers,

Jon

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The later m240 is larger, this has been well covered and yes the m6,7 is smaller then the m9

The M(typ 240) is 0.6 mm thicker and exactly the same dimensions for the rest compared to the  M9.It has been explained a zillion times and still people persist... :rolleyes:

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I'm assuming, apart from the thumb wheel, the MD has the same firmware as my M60. 

  • The 'movie' button displays battery percentage and SD card capacity on subsequent pushes. 
  • White balance is set to Auto. No Jpegs, so it just sets the starting point for your DNG adjustment in post processing.
  • No manual lens selection, so your uncoded lenses will have no in camera correction. 
  • LED frame lines, in traditional pairs. 
  • No Auto ISO setting. 
  • Body same size as the M(240). 
  • Battery same as M(240), but battery life longer (I would expect).
  • Not sure if the MD also has the 2GB buffer of the M-P and M60.
  • Small red LED write light bottom right at the back.

Anything else?  In addition to the thumb wheel the MD gains frameline preview lever, a threaded shutter release and lugs - applying the principle that less costs more, that will be why the MD costs less than the M60 ...

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I'm assuming, apart from the thumb wheel, the MD has the same firmware as my M60. 

  • The 'movie' button displays battery percentage and SD card capacity on subsequent pushes. 
  • White balance is set to Auto. No Jpegs, so it just sets the starting point for your DNG adjustment in post processing.
  • No manual lens selection, so your uncoded lenses will have no in camera correction. 
  • LED frame lines, in traditional pairs. 
  • No Auto ISO setting. 
  • Body same size as the M(240). 
  • Battery same as M(240), but battery life longer (I would expect).
  • Not sure if the MD also has the 2GB buffer of the M-P and M60.
  • Small red LED write light bottom right at the back.

Anything else?  In addition to the thumb wheel the MD gains frameline preview lever, a threaded shutter release and lugs - applying the principle that less costs more, that will be why the MD costs less than the M60 ...

It has 1 Gb buffer.

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Why does it cost more than the same camera with a screen?

 

 

The price of a product is made up of several parts.

 

1) BOM (Bill of Materials) -- the list of actual items that make the product and their individual costs.   The lack of a screen will reduce the cost.  The fancy ISO selection switch will increase the cost.   Etc.

 

2) Manufacturing.   The recurring cost to produce the product.

 

3) NRE (Non-Recurring Engineering).   This is the R&D specific to this particular product.   New circuit boards had to be designed, prototyped, and tested.   New software had to be written.  Manufacturing tooling and fixtures may need to be designed and prototyped. Etc. The NRE goes into the cost -- how much depends upon how many units Leica expects to sell.   It can be a *significant* part of the price if the expected sales are low.

 

 

4) Overhead.  That portion of the power, heat, gas, water, rent or mortgage payments, etc. that are assigned to the product.

 

5) Profit.  Leica wants to make some money

 

6) Mark-up.  Leica dealers want to make some money, too.

 

The BOM differences are probably small.   The NRE is likely high on a per-unit basis because of low sales volume.  Manufacturing may be high, too, due to the low volume.  It may not be worth while to spend time and money automating part of the manufacturing process.

 

The screen/no-screen cost is likely a very small part of the overall cost structure of the product.

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