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Thread: Justify the acquiring of a new Linhof Technika?

  1. #71

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    Re: Justify the acquiring of a new Linhof Technika?

    Looking at B&H today, their price for the Master Technika Classic is $12929 and the Master Technika 3000, $12416. These are also the list prices shown by Omega-Brandess.

    Linhof & Studio shows $7847 for the Master Technika Classic and $7526 for the Master Technika 3000 (prices converted from G.B.P. today using an on-line currency conversion website).

    The price list currently on Linhof's website is two years old; the dollar equivalents of their prices shown in Euros are $8032 and $7607 respectively, again these are based on two year old figures. Of course if you are buying in a Euro or G.B.P. area there would be V.A.T.

    As I said in March 2019 in post #19, I did buy a new Master Technika 3000 in March 2010.

    David

  2. #72

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    Re: Justify the acquiring of a new Linhof Technika?

    For the "cost is no object" crowd, this is not an issue...

    My cheap (1951/52) Tek III I obtained 35 years ago has worked hard for me and is still going, so a lifetime investment...

    Great they are still making them (at a cost)...

    Steve K

  3. #73

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    Re: Justify the acquiring of a new Linhof Technika?

    I used a Super Technica IV for a while. It was painful to use 90mm and 75 mm lenses. Not impossible but difficult. Also it was almost twice the weight of a wooden field camera, and I wanted to hike a lot with it. So I sold it.

    But your point is well taken. When you come down from $10k to like $600-$800 for a well used Tech IV or even $1k to $1.5k for a Master, then we're talking, and it makes a LOT more sense if it fits your needs. But that is NOT OP's original question. This also makes you wonder how much purchasing a new model will quickly depreciate over time, and so how much of a good smart investment it really is :-)

  4. #74

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    Re: Justify the acquiring of a new Linhof Technika?

    "Fine tools contribute to fine work". -Alexander Calder
    The very best of anything is never cheap. In addition, the Linhof Technika was designed and built to be a superlative professional tool. Thus, in modern times anyway, a tax write-off for its professional buyer. Likely less so in the last 20 years- but the concept of building to a high standard, and not down to a price, remains. Many such products have become status symbols; Ferrari, Rolex, Leica come to mind. Hard to imagine a Technika as such (except in our very small cohort). I'm glad that they are still in production, and I'd buy a new Linhof today if I could.

  5. #75

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    Re: Justify the acquiring of a new Linhof Technika?

    Quote Originally Posted by Kiwi7475 View Post
    I used a Super Technica IV for a while. It was painful to use 90mm and 75 mm lenses. Not impossible but difficult. Also it was almost twice the weight of a wooden field camera, and I wanted to hike a lot with it. So I sold it.

    But your point is well taken. When you come down from $10k to like $600-$800 for a well used Tech IV or even $1k to $1.5k for a Master, then we're talking, and it makes a LOT more sense if it fits your needs. But that is NOT OP's original question. This also makes you wonder how much purchasing a new model will quickly depreciate over time, and so how much of a good smart investment it really is :-)
    A Technika, a Leica, etc. are tools. Tools that will last decades under hard use. A car, be it a Ferrari or a Fiat is a car, it will be driven, it’s tires will wear, it beats periodic maintenance. It’s why they depreciate so much when first driven. But then the Ferrari eventually will become a collectible and possibly never driven again.
    A LInhof remains a tool, even decades later.

    Using a 75 or 90 on a IV simply means a recessed board and a dropped bed. Not very difficult.

  6. #76
    Tin Can's Avatar
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    Re: Justify the acquiring of a new Linhof Technika?

    The age old answer

    If you have to ask the price, you cannot afford it
    Tin Can

  7. #77

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    Re: Justify the acquiring of a new Linhof Technika?

    Quote Originally Posted by Bob Salomon View Post
    A Technika, a Leica, etc. are tools. Tools that will last decades under hard use. A car, be it a Ferrari or a Fiat is a car, it will be driven, it’s tires will wear, it beats periodic maintenance. It’s why they depreciate so much when first driven. But then the Ferrari eventually will become a collectible and possibly never driven again.
    A LInhof remains a tool, even decades later.

    Using a 75 or 90 on a IV simply means a recessed board and a dropped bed. Not very difficult.
    Not all tools are equal. The ones you mention are luxury tools. You buy more than the appropriate tool that is needed for the job. You buy "an inessential, desirable item which is expensive or difficult to obtain". That is the dictionary definition of luxury and I think it applies swimmingly.

    Like I said before, this is a personal decision and arguing against or in favor is futile. The world is full of luxury items, pick your poison (cars, cameras, watches, ... whatever) but be smart with your wallet.

  8. #78

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    Re: Justify the acquiring of a new Linhof Technika?

    Hello,

    I don't think a Technika is a luxury product. On the contrary. It is the expression of a solid company policy that focuses on sustainability and availability.

    Here you can find a book: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B50...RRQjVFVlk/view

    This book is worth reading. You will find something about the history of Linhof. When the Technika was sold as one of a few serious technical cameras, Linhof had over 800 employees. One learns about the expansion and the transition to CAD and CAM, about the factory canteen and housing construction.

    At Laflex you can also find brochures from that time: http://www.laflexcamera.com/brochures You can see the variety of Linhof developments, which were always tailored to the needs of professionals.

    In order to transfer important knowledge, Linhof has been emphasizing training since the sixties. Back then: https://drive.google.com/file/d/16_H...RnV9MDbDw/view Today: http://linhof.com/linhof-workshops-und-seminare-2/

    Here you can see that Linhof actually still repairs all cameras from 1959 on: http://linhof.com/en/service-2/ 1959 is the cut-off date because there are no older spare parts available. It concerns mainly the Linhof Technika IV MK1, which was then replaced by an improved MK2 model. Buy a Technika V, and you will probably be able to get it repaired completely.

    The real estate prices in Munich are high. A friend paid the equivalent of monthly 1500 USD for 25 square meters, that was in 1995. Linhof stores all the spare parts, runs the complete workshop, takes care of the support from all over the world. Linhof still exists. One could have founded successor companies. The repair of old cameras would then be in the hands of subcontractors. How long they would still be around is not known.

    To me, all this doesn't sound like "luxury article", but like solid work for people who value sustainability and availability. Like Bosch or Dewalt gear. Especially when I have to earn my money hard, I will be disappointed with many cheaper solutions. Bourgeoisie is a different concept.

    I spent the first 36 years of my life in Germany, so I know that the price for a Linhof Technika is a normal commercial price for the offer mentioned. Whether the demand is still there today is another story. But those who do not want to afford a Technika do not have to grumble.

    Or, if one grumbles about the Technika, perhaps one cannot afford one. It's like Alberich in Richard Wagner's "Rheingold": he completely renounces love because he cannot manage to seduce one of the three Rhine daughters.

    Of course most men in the world are poor. For them, a Linhof is a luxury, sure. But they don't shoot in 4x5 inch anyway.

    Greeting



    Quote Originally Posted by Kiwi7475 View Post
    Arguing in favor or against is futile.

    It is definitely a luxury item, made for the elite bourgeoisie or the high end professional, as many other consumption items (luxury cars, etc.). Whether it can be a heirloom piece or not is just one more bourgeoisie consideration, most people will be glad if they leave this world not passing on debt to their descendants.

    I don't know that it costs $10k to design and manufacture this thing (including all the health insurance and good working conditions/benefits), and definitely I don't know that it is worth $10k. Both of which are different things.

    We all go through a personal evaluation process in considering an expensive purchase for something that will not bring us money back (ie. not a tool that generates income). Can I afford it? Will it give me that something more that a lesser expensive equivalent will not? What am I giving up in purchasing it? etc. etc.

    This is a most personal decision, no one can take OP's spot on this. It will be worthwhile for some, outrageous to even consider for others, and so on.

    For me, I can buy something that will do what I need for a heck of a lot less, and use the reminder of my hard earned dollars for many other things, photography related and not. So the decision is trivial.

  9. #79

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    Re: Justify the acquiring of a new Linhof Technika?

    On my first business trip to the LInhof factory they gave me a tour before lunch.
    There were a pair of swinging doors entering the main work area. Just to the side of those doors was a beer vending machine.
    Once inside that room were rows and rows of long tables, each holding 4 or 6 employees. Each with fine finishing tools, files, small hammers, screwdrivers, etc.. they were finishing the body castings for the MT. All fine hand work by master machinists.
    When we went to lunch in the factory cafeteria the table were set with China and silverware and were all in one room. The executive area was in the same area but curtained off. Waiters and waitresses served all of the tables.

    This was in 1981.
    A couple of years later I made another trip and noticed that the beer machine was gone. Then we entered that big room and found all of the tables and machinists were gone. In their place were several very large and very long cad/cam machines carrying out the work of all those machinists. The dining area was also gone.

    On that trip we found a large pile of unfinished bodies for the MT that were in a “discard” pile. We asked why and they showed us that those castings had very small potholes on the areas that would be chrome plated. The factory tried filling and smoothing over those pit holes but when plated any of those areas would have what looked like a water spot on the chrome.
    We asked them if they could salvage those bodies by painting them with the same electrostatic black paint that they used on Kardan, Technoramas, tripod heads, etc.. they said that they could if we bought all of them. So we did at a much lower price to us and then sold them to our dealers at a much lower cost to them. They were available through the rest of the 80s.

  10. #80

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    Re: Justify the acquiring of a new Linhof Technika?

    Whether a Technica is worth $8k or $10k is one matter. But the use of tools is another. Two small stories:

    - in 1990 I went to work in a political office, and my mentor had a Montblanc fountain pen. So I bought one too. Still used today, its been back once for service. Sure it cost a lot, but all its done since then is use ink. Luxury one might say or is this perhaps long-term sustainability? Lot better than throwing away a bunch of plastic ones.

    - about a year ago I bought some Snap-on screw drivers for some ridiculous amount of money. They are known to have very good tools, and I'm generally too cheap to buy any of them. However, one year later, its the screwdriver I'm always looking to use. Just feels right.
    Last edited by GG12; 1-Aug-2020 at 09:34.

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