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M9 on track


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Some background from Wall Street Journal

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122152103387739231.html

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Indeed there was one. With framelines but no parallax compensation as I am aware of (plus, it wouldn't work anyway not having the RF and a moving focussing patch to begin with). :D

No RF, permanently displayed 35 and 50 mm frame, parallax compensation, 1959-1965, between 9000 and 9500 built.

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Peter,

 

I am sure you are aware there was no Leica M1 production rangefinder, the first "M" was the M3, followed by the M2 (yep, the M3 preceded the M2).

 

Leica M numbering is even weirder than you suggest.

 

It’s true that the first Leica M to be sold was the M3 in 1954. This was followed by the M2 in 1958 as an alternative which was followed in 1959 by the M1 as a stripped down body without rangefinder or adjustable viewfinder frames. This in turn led to the Leica MD in 1965 which was little more than a film transport and shutter. The M1 was certainly sold and I once handled one owned by Kodak.

 

Information on this topic is available in many books but I would recommend “50 Years Leica M” by Günter Osterloh, ISBN 3-89880-353-8.

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Information on this topic is available in many books but I would recommend “50 Years Leica M” by Günter Osterloh, ISBN 3-89880-353-8.

 

Or see this link to Cameraquest...

 

Leica M Mount Camera List

 

There's a lot of information on the Cameraquest website, it's not a very pretty site (I'm being kind), but I learned a lot from it when I first got into Leicas.

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I logged into my reuters today and put together some info on Leica as compared to Nikon and Olympus. In that sequence: L/N/O in millions of euro unless otherwise written

 

Revenue 157 / 6,597 / 7,346

Gross margin 57% / 36% /47%

share price drop 1y 12 to 3 euro / 3500 to 1500 yen / 3600 to 2400 yen

R&D eur(% revenue) 13,5 (8.5%) / 461 (7%) / 344 (4.7%)

ROA 2.87 / 3.57 /(-9.51)

 

Return on assets shows how effectively management creates wealth.

 

Leica's 13.5 million euro for R&D is 8.5% of revenue, Canon spends 8%, Nikon 7%, so fairly normal in the business.

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Leica M numbering is even weirder than you suggest.

 

It’s true that the first Leica M to be sold was the M3 in 1954. This was followed by the M2 in 1958 as an alternative which was followed in 1959 by the M1 as a stripped down body without rangefinder or adjustable viewfinder frames. This in turn led to the Leica MD in 1965 which was little more than a film transport and shutter. The M1 was certainly sold and I once handled one owned by Kodak.

 

Information on this topic is available in many books but I would recommend “50 Years Leica M” by Günter Osterloh, ISBN 3-89880-353-8.

 

Hi Peter,

 

I assumed you would know that, but threw it out there in case some may have thought the M series began with an M1. The M1 as you said was without a rangefinder, which is why I stated there was no production rangefinder called M1. In addition to using it on microscopes, many used it with the Visoflex for long telephoto shooting and with the added bellows on copy stands.

 

If I recall, the M2 was originally designed to be a less expensive body than the M3, but I have no reference on that other than memory.

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  • 3 weeks later...

i feel passionately about my leicas and lenses as do many posters here. leica have become a bigger and more complex company than they ever were 30 years ago with political and budget allocation contraints which, combined with the current economic climate is much tighter than ever before. every company is in a similar position right now and has to tread carefully. i have absolutely every faith in leica not to fold, to follow through with their plans and bring the m9 to glorious fruition

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The designations of the first M models were of course based on those of the screw-thread cameras: Leica I simplest (no rangefinder, no slow speeds), II middle (rangefinder but no slow speeds) and III was the top of the line (the works).

 

The old man from the Age of the Reprovit

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Hi Peter,

 

I assumed you would know that, but threw it out there in case some may have thought the M series began with an M1. The M1 as you said was without a rangefinder, which is why I stated there was no production rangefinder called M1. In addition to using it on microscopes, many used it with the Visoflex for long telephoto shooting and with the added bellows on copy stands.

No that was the MD, which has no viewfinder. The M1 was meant for general photography using zone focussing, as it did have a viewfinder an 35 and 50 mm framelines with parallax compensation.

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