At 08:11 PM 4/13/05 -0600, Douglas Shea wrote: >However, the first model was not produced during their "heyday" as I >initially stated. From the Model 4 until the last 11si was produced I have >never seen evidence of compromise in any form, and I can not say that is >true with Contax, Rollei, or Leica.=20 Doug I cannot speak for ALPA. I can speak for the others. Zeiss Ikon was bankrolled by the Zeiss Foundation. It made money before the Second World War. It made a bit of money for a few years in the 1950's. For the rest of its existence, it was a huge gaping sore in the financial report of that Foundation, which finally, after almost twenty years of increainsg losses, led to its being jerked out of the camera market in 1972. Franke & Heidecke made money until 1960 or so but lost it thereafter. On this List, little more needs to be said. The families still have a bit of money but not what they would have had had they cut and run early on. Leitz made money until 1958 or so and then began to lose it. The Leitz family were generous in underwriting these losses: other families would have cut their losses early on but Leitz soldiered on until the were effectively without further resources, and the present Lecia company= resulted. None of these three companies were under the hand of Swiss banks. ALPA was.= =20 I find it absurd to suggest that production economics were not much in the mind of the Bourgeois (sp?) family at all times during heir ownership of the ALPA concern. =20 There are others on this List who can say far more than I can on this issue. Marc msmall@xxxxxxxxxxxx=20 Cha robh b=E0s fir gun ghr=E0s fir!