Canon & Nikon vs. Leica?

[Kwak12r]

I am just curious to find out what Leica is about.
I do not find a lot of people using Leica and the price for these cameras is incredibly expensive.
What do they have (and do) to justify the expense vs the big names such as Canon and Nikon?

I hope that I am not offending those that use Leica but I am just curious as to what they are all about.

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[ianm]

leica have been a long standing german camera maker i believe (and other things), they are the cream of the crop and their lens technology is supposedly the best - hence their prices, not sure about their slrs though.

look at the wiki Leica Camera - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[dxqcanada]

Back in the old days of film ... you were a nobody if you did not own a Leica rangefinder camera, or a Zeiss lens.

The SLR's were very well made ... similar to Contax.

Leica and Zeiss optics were considered the best in those days.

[usayit]

Past threads of interest:
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/p...uss-about.html

The increasing expense is in part the time tested quality, paired with a small nitch market, as well as the branding. There's probably nothing in Leica that will immediately translate to a better photo..... in the right hands the advantages can be exploited wonderfully. Nikon used to make rangefinders too (In some ways superior to their Leica counterparts). A few years ago, there was a rumor of Nikon introducing a digital rangefinder. I guarantee the price would have been equally high.... again... small niche market.

I think current prices of Leica products are insanely expensive and it seems to get worse and worse as time goes on. It does worry me... I have to work hard and stretch far in order to pay the price of admission. I am just a regular Joe with a regular job who enjoys no other luxuries except for my cameras. Never the less, I enjoy photography more shooting with a rangefinder than an SLR. If I want to continue into the digital world enjoying a DRF, there really is no other option. Keep in mind, they are two different tools and the rangefinder might not necessarily work for everyone. I do not hesitate to switch to a Canon when it is necessary.

As for Leica's SLRs and Digital SLR backs, I cannot comment as they never felt comfortable in my hands. The quality of the R-lenses are very high and there is a fair share of Canon enthusiasts that use Leica R-lenses on their DSLRs via an adapter.

btw... someday, i would mind owning a Nikon... a Nikon rangefinder that is: http://www.cameraquest.com/nrfs4.htm