Todd S. wrote:
> There is this:
>http://www.westegg.com/inflation/
>According to them, the Spotmatic with 50mm F1.4 would cost $1647.08 in 2000
>just from inflation - which makes the MZ-S a bargain. Likewise, the ZX-M,
>available without a lens for $159 today, would cost a little less than $30
>in 1965 dollars. That's cheap.
And, actually, that's underestimated, because you have to factor in much
more than inflation. Metalwork of the sort found on the Spotmatic and its
50mm lens is far more expensive now than it was in 1965, as is hand assembly
and testing, and production runs of a 50mm AND a metal SLR would be far
smaller in today's market than they were for Pentax in 1965. It's virtually
too expensive for new all-metal cameras to be made in Japan any more. The
only place they can be made cheaply now is Red China, and unfortunately the
manufacturing infrastructure and industrial training of workers there isn't
nearly up to the standards of Japan in 1965 as of yet.
Some time ago a few industry friends and I tried to estimate what it would
cost to manufacture a replica M42 Super-Takumar 50mm f/1.4 in Japan today,
to the same standards. Our best guess was that the manufacturing costs and
economies of scale would dictate a current street price of somewhere between
$800 and $1,600. $1,000 is not a bad guess, I don't think. (Just look at the
recent "replica" Nikon rangefinder for context.) The Spotmatic would
probably have to sell for $800-$1,200, making the entire package more like
$2,000 today, if not more.
--Mike
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