111–120 of 120 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most people don’t understand why or how stuff is priced, or that low volume items like this probably have a decent amount of expensive human labor included in the price. You aren’t going to set up full automation to assemble 350 cameras. My car mechanic charges $160/hr.
>Most people don’t understand why or how stuff is priced You'd think HN users aren't "most people"
Not even on HN!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
A decent electronics repair shop/individual should be able to replace the battery with an equivalent, it'll be worth it given the cost of them. I wouldn't be surprised if camera repair joints would consider it unsavable but the expertise will be at an electronics repair place.
It's not that the battery goes bad (it's just a CR2). It's the rest of the electronics - if any of that goes bad, the camera becomes a paperweight. Whereas something like a vintage Olympus OM-1 is fully mechanical - if the electronic fails, you lose the light meter, but the shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and shutter release are all mechanics, so the camera is still completely functional (enthusiast photographers can g…
So far, I think there's no one for 35mm. For medium format shooters, there's the much bigger Fuji/Linhof 617. Of course pretty expensive. Perhaps 3D print is the only viable option...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can get an identical field of view with a 30mm lens on that setup.
That's good to know - though the Zenzanon-S 30mm appears to be both rare and expensive enough that I'd probably count myself content with the 40mm!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most people don’t understand why or how stuff is priced, or that low volume items like this probably have a decent amount of expensive human labor included in the price. You aren’t going to set up full automation to assemble 350 cameras. My car mechanic charges $160/hr.
what’s the margin you reckon on that $160/hr your car mechanic is charging you? human labor is not that expensive, the margins of business employing human labor are. I recently needed a plumber, called up a company, plumber showed up, etc. got an estimate from the company which was outrageous. I was expecting this so I got plumber’s number. called him and asked him if he’d do the job for 1/2 the price - win-win.
I’d guess they net 15% on average on that shop rate after accounting for all of the overhead. Some jobs will be high margin wins, some jobs will make a bit, some jobs will lose money.
The shop rate doesn’t just include labor, it also includes all of the overhead of the shop: equipment like lifts, alignment machines, tire machines, consumables, service writers, rent/mortgage, software, diagnostic tools, utilities, blah blah blah.
Btw I quote all residential electrical work at ridiculous prices because I don’t want residential customers, possibly you called a commercial oriented plumber first?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most people don’t understand why or how stuff is priced, or that low volume items like this probably have a decent amount of expensive human labor included in the price. You aren’t going to set up full automation to assemble 350 cameras. My car mechanic charges $160/hr.
>Most people don’t understand why or how stuff is priced You'd think HN users aren't "most people"
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not that the battery goes bad (it's just a CR2). It's the rest of the electronics - if any of that goes bad, the camera becomes a paperweight. Whereas something like a vintage Olympus OM-1 is fully mechanical - if the electronic fails, you lose the light meter, but the shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and shutter release are all mechanics, so the camera is still completely functional (enthusiast photographers can g…
Is there a completely mechanical version of XPan? Of course I mean shoot 65:24 and have interchangebale lens support? So far, I think there's no one for 35mm. For medium format shooters, there's the much bigger Fuji/Linhof 617. Of course pretty expensive. Perhaps 3D print is the only viable option...
The Infidex looks like a good option for 3D printing.
And there are 1-2 camera techs who will butcher an old 35mm SLR body, graft on an old press lens, and make it panoramic. But at that point, the body is just the film spool/winder. The old press lens has the shutter attached and controls exposure.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
what’s the margin you reckon on that $160/hr your car mechanic is charging you? human labor is not that expensive, the margins of business employing human labor are. I recently needed a plumber, called up a company, plumber showed up, etc. got an estimate from the company which was outrageous. I was expecting this so I got plumber’s number. called him and asked him if he’d do the job for 1/2 the price - win-win.
I sell and run electrical service and project work for a living. I’d guess they net 15% on average on that shop rate after accounting for all of the overhead. Some jobs will be high margin wins, some jobs will make a bit, some jobs will lose money. The shop rate doesn’t just include labor, it also includes all of the overhead of the shop: equipment like lifts, alignment machines, tire machines, consumables, service w…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I feel better now about the $700 I spent buying a 35mm panoramic film back for my medium-format Bronica SQA. It seemed like a real splurge at the time, but for the price of this new camera, you could get a whole Bronica system - including four or five lenses, an alternate viewfinder, a couple of 120 backs, and the panoramic film back - with enough left over for a year's worth of film and processing. People must reall…
You can get an identical field of view with a 30mm lens on that setup.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know much about how this camera is priced, but I think you're underrating the human desire for exclusivity. I won't be surprised when that first run sells out.
> the human desire for exclusivity I sense some resentment for people with money. Personally, I don't find it hard to imagine at all that there's 350 photographers who whom $4000 is not a big deal (many of them on this site), who are looking for something interesting and new.