>>Mark Hammons wrote:
>>
>>> Then came the R series -- R3, R4, R5, RE, R5, R6, R6.2, R7, which, I
>>> understand were manufactured in part by Minolta.
>>
>>The R3 was build in collaboration with Minolta, it was an improved
>>Minolta design (spotmetering), but I haven´t heard of an "R made in
>>Japan". The other R where quite different designs made in Leitz own
>>productions facilities (I guess it was in Portugal, the R6 and later
>>should be "made in Germany again").
>>
>--snip
>>Regards
>>
>>Richard
>>
>>
>If memory serves, the R3 - R5 were assembled in Portugal. They were
>according to one review I read produced from Minolta produced bodies.
>Changes included modifications to the metering, lens mount and some
>cosmetics including a new top plate. These minor modifications ended up
>costing their customers an extra thousand dollars or so. I lost interest in
>following Leica after that.
>
>Winsor
>
>Winsor Crosby
>Long Beach, California
>mailto:wincros@xxxxxxxxxxx
I double checked one of my Leica books and the R3 was indeed a design
collaberation between Minolta and Leitz based on an existing Minolta
design, so it seems. They had parts made by Minolta AND Leitz. They
were assembled in Wetzlar (Germany) as well as Portugal -- most of
them being assembled in Portugal. They were NOT assembled in Japan.
The following R cameras were derived from the R3 so seemingly they
all had a little "Minolta in them" -- at least in the design aspect -- and I
believe in the parts aspect too -- my book didn't make that point clear.
The R8, which was recently released is, however, a fresh design done totally
by Leica and assembled by Leica in Solms, Germany.
Sorry for my errors in the original post saying Minolta assembled some of the
earlier R series.
Mark Hammons
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