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Hey - did you know if you click on the title of a thread it will take you to the first unread post since you last visited that thread?
but were afraid to ask: 
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Pretty Please - add it to our Events forum(s) and add to the calendar! >> 
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Seems they've always been so. Carl Zeiss/Leitz lenses? It used to be German mined glass, not a "synthetic" mix. But that was long ago. German precision? To some extent that's likely too. But Contax and even Nikon made some well engineered rangefinders before SLR's became the "weapon of choice." Now I believe it's more of a nostalgia/status symbol effect. And to some extent that has always been the case. If my Leica IIIc with a "Leitz Elmar 3,5cm, 1:3,5" were in good condition I'd not hesitate to put it up for sale. As it is, it'd cost as much to have it reconditioned as it would sell for.
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Speaking of cost versus "status," Hasselblad came out with a camera called the Steller (I think) which promised to be their "high end" version of a pocket camera. It sold for over $1000 when I first came out. Sales basically tanked for this camera when it was uncovered that it was nothing more than a dressed up Sony RX100 - the guts were literally right out of the much cheaper Sony.