I think this got disconnected. I was referring to the Leica S2 or the Hasselblad H-whatever for $39K. Tell me he is selling 30 $39K Hasselblads a week, and I will be proven wrong... Frank Filippone red735i@xxxxxxxxxxxxx From: hasselblad-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:hasselblad-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Franc Flipsen Sent: Saturday, October 11, 2008 1:52 PM To: hasselblad@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [HUG ] Re: On the subject of equipement cost Frank, I don't think it matters where you are in the world. Here in Edmonton, AB Canada (pop. 1M in Metro) my dealer sold his first shipment of 30 D3's in 4 days and sold 50 D700 in a week. He still is selling D3's at 4-5 a week and a dozen D700's every week, and mostly to amatuers/Semi pros. He tells me the D700 is very popular with the students, They'll do without for a few months just to own one. Franc ----- Original Message ----- From: Frank Filippone <mailto:red735i@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: hasselblad@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Saturday, October 11, 2008 10:01 AM Subject: [HUG ] Re: On the subject of equipement cost Jim, to be fair, you do live in the Techno-center of the world. I think that if I heard this from someone in Des Moines Iowa, it would have more impact as a universal market. And, OTOH, I could be wrong about who is buying these things.. it could be Joe Six-Pack.. Imagine.. Disneyland with 10,000 Fathers using H3 39MP cameras.... It boggles the mind...the rest are using D3 and D700 and Mark somethings. I really think the market is tiny.. And limited to those amateurs with high disposable incomes and Pros. Frank Filippone red735i@xxxxxxxxxxxxx From: hasselblad-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:hasselblad-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jim Brick Sent: Saturday, October 11, 2008 8:58 AM To: hasselblad@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [HUG ] Re: On the subject of equipement cost Funny thing is, my local photo shop (Keeble & Shuchat Photography) has trouble keeping D3's, D700's 1Ds Mark III's, 5D's, and now 5D Mark III's in stock. They run out of the store as fast as they can get them in. I their initial stock of 100 D700's were gone in two days. KSP also does a land office business in large format ink splatter printers. Someone other than photo pro's and lawyers are buying this stuff. And when Mary Mac worked there, KSP was the top MF digital back sales store west of the Rockies. In a year, the number of Imacon & Leaf backs that went out of KSP was mind boggling! I don't remember the number but it was huge. Again, there has to be a ton of folks buying this stuff - all of the time - or the companies who make them would not make them. The amount of R&D and production cost that goes into a new digital system (Hx, Canon, Nikon, Leaf, Sinar, ???), is staggering, and they must be recouping the cost, or, it wouldn't work. IMHO, Jim On Oct 10, 2008, at 2:29 PM, Frank Filippone wrote: And just who do you think can afford a $5K to $8K camera body, other than pros that can write it off? A few rich amateurs? Very Few? Some of us have financial obligations. like house payments, car payments, medical payments or insurance payments, child support payments, or ( heaven forbid) alimony payments. The world really is NOT flush with disposable income magnates..much as the world marketing organizations want you to believe otherwise......