It is NOT about manufacturing costs......it is about price point marketing and taking a lower GM per lens and competing with used lens prices. Erwin can be right about the lower manufacturing costs.... but that is NOT the driver for Leica. Frank Filippone red735i@xxxxxxxxxxxxx The good part is that they maintain Leica's quality standards while producing them at up to 1000 Euro's less that their Summicron equivalents. How? By employing new machinery and new, modern productions methods! ------ Unsubscribe or change to/from Digest Mode at: http://www3.telus.net/~telyt/lrflex.htm Archives are at: //www.freelists.org/archives/leicareflex/