Honestly folks, the words ‘new’ and ‘film’ and ‘budget’ just don’t go together. The film market is tiny t-i-n-y, compared to it’s former self. Even digital dedicated camera sales are collapsing. All the tooling and expertise and engineering required to make even a simple 35mm SLR, Ricoh KR5 simple, would amount to zillions of dollars. And how would that start up cost be recovered?
By selling either a million cameras for $400 each...and that new price would be a hard sell against available used and higher spec cameras.
Or, selling them for $2000 each....and no reasonable person would pay that.
True, Leica has an name, and already makes a film camera and so, if based on this existing design, almost all the equipment is there to make a film camera, they can find a way to save cost, subcontracting parts elsewhere to be assembled by them perhaps.
Bottom line, mass production and that automated, makes things we can afford. But before a company commits to mass production they have to be sure, really sure, that there is a market at the price they have to sell at to make a profit and not go bankrupt.
At this point some may be thinking, ‘what a crabby old man, did somebody piss in his fixer’.
Well no, just mixed some fresh fixer, and although I’m old, and sometimes crabby, I believe my basic analysis is correct.
One more thing, the definition of ‘budget’ obviously varies greatly, depending on individual income and lifestyle.
So.....
