Here in the US there is such a widening gap between what used to be middle class and for lack of a better term upper class it's so hard for me to understand how someone can afford lenses that cost $3000 or $4000. However, I certainly don't begrudge people owning them. I've never used an M9 (and I'm sure never will) but even if I could afford it, I'm just not sure I could justify spending that kind of money on a camera and lens. I guess a basic camera/50mm combo is more than $8000 US.
The last part of this comment is where I'm at. I think everyone has their own standards, both financial and what they'd be willing to pay for something
regardless of financial means. I suppose if I was willing to shift enough stuff around and buy nothing else and not travel for a while, I theoretically COULD buy a Leica. I know people with less means than I'm fortunate enough to have own them and are devoted to them. For me, though, I would just simply never think of spending that much on a camera. The Fuji was a REAL stretch for me - more than I'd ever spent on a camera before. But, lets face it, $1700 isn't that overwhelmingly much more than the $1200 I paid for the X100 or the nearly $1000 I've paid for a couple others. And I've certainly spent $600 for a lens before, so the Fuji lenses aren't all that costly. And I tend to sell stuff before it loses all that much value, so I rarely have all that much sunk into camera gear at any one time. Maybe all totalled up almost as much as one Leica body or one expensive Leica lens. Or a top line pro-DSLR and a lens or maybe two. But I have a lot more gear than that and I value the variety of shooting experiences more than I would having just one of the creme de la creme (or however the French would spell that!)
But there's just something about spending north of $5000 on a camera body and about that much again for each lens that's just beyond my realm of imagination. Sort of like buying cars. If it was important enough to me and I put aside enough other stuff, I suppose I could have bought a lower end BMW or something at some point in my life. But I could just never imagine spending that kind of money on something like that. My 2008 Honda Fit is the most expensive car I've ever owned. Let alone a quarter of a million for something like a Ferrari (which I could never do no matter how much I wanted it). I guess if I won a lottery and a hundred thousand dollars was just a little more than pocket change, then, sure, I'd buy a Leica just to check it out. But I've been really fortunate and lucky and just a tiny bit smart (and I'm not being falsely modest - the best thing I did was just not blow it when started building up a nest egg) and I'm able to afford these serious compacts we love around here without too much strain, even the Fuji. Then again, one of the reasons I've done so well is I've avoided buying top dollar stuff all my life. Cheap cars, cheap clothes, small homes (I like small spaces better anyway - this tiny NYC studio would be more than enough for me if I lived alone). My wife and I have just never had expensive tastes (by US standards anyway - compared to the way 95% of the planet lives, we live like kings and queens) and so I've managed to put enough away that we're happily getting by on one salary plus some outside income at this point. If I'd had Leica or BMW tastes through my life instead of buying relatively cheap, durable stuff and staying out of debt, I'd still be working my ass off to support that. I'd rather have time to shoot, which I have plenty of...
I'm not criticizing people who DO have and love Leica type stuff and find it worth the money. I'm just saying there are tradeoffs and those kinds of tastes tend to cost you in other areas of life. They're not for me, but if they're for you, more power to you - but you damn sure better ENJOY THEM!!!
-Ray