Poll: Let's get real

[yanidel]

it's all conjecture and to the best of my knowledge there is no one on this board that actually works for Leica. 🙂

I am sure that there are some Leica marketers on this board. This is one of the few easy and cheap way to get customer feedback anonymously on M system. There are even polls that are very useful (though maybe not always representative of the whole customer segment), RFF is a gold mine for Leica in marketing intelligency.

Actually, I think you are one of them 😉

 

[Ororaro]

And that is why you claim:



Wow. We have a philosopher in the house...

Yes, a philosopher and his CLown.

 

[dcsang]

I am sure that there are some Leica marketers on this board. This is one of the few easy and cheap way to get customer feedback anonymously on M system. There are even polls that are very useful (though maybe not always representative of the whole customer segment), RFF is a gold mine for Leica in marketing intelligency.

Actually, I think you are one of them 😉

hehe.. oh.. I only wish I worked for Leica.. but you are correct, if Leica was as smart as we believe them to be they would have a marketing rep "around" doing research.

The only people I can think of in that sort of role that actually partake in online forums are Chuck Westfall of Canon and, maybe, Henry Posner of B&H Cameras. Obviously Chuck applies more to the role than Henry (being the retailer rather than representing the manufacturer as Chuck does).

Perhaps over at the Leica User Forum there is someone like Chuck and/or Henry.. who knows.. but it sure ain't me... trust me on that one 😀

Cheers
Dave

 

[Roger Hicks]

I'd be surprised if there were any Leica 'stooges' here.

I don't recall discussing it with anyone in Solms but I do know that most manufacturers regard internet forums as a penance:

Four Hail Marys and a week on the internet...

Cheers,

Roger

 

[dcsang]

I'd be surprised if there were any Leica 'stooges' here.

I don't recall discussing it with anyone in Solms but I do know that most manufacturers regard internet forums as a penance:

Four Hail Marys and a week on the internet...

Cheers,

Roger

heh.. Chuck Westfall and Henry Posner must be very very very bad men then 😀

Cheers
Dave

 

[bob338]

I am the first and biggest *sshole according to your logic, then, and it doesn't even affect me. I bought the Noctilux used. I also bought my M7 and M8 used.

The difference between me and you is that I don't pretend that Leica will listen to me. I don't bash Leica. I'm a second hand user and I know my contribution to Leica is nil. Which is sad, really. This is why I plan to purchase a brand new lens in the near future.

i won't comment on whether you're an *sshole or not, i'm sure you're a likable enough person. what i was trying to say is that i get enough dirty looks from other RF users that can't afford leicas without creating more of a divide.

and i can care less if leica ever listens to a thing i say. i can buy anything in their entire range any time i want to, i just choose not to right now. they are not producing what i want at a price i think is worth paying.

also, saying that second hand users contribute nothing to leica is not true. it furthers the brand name and keeps them in the collective subconscious. and there are a lot of us that send our broken m2s back to leica for very expensive rebuilds now and then...

bob

 

[BillP]

This is a sour and small-souled thread. It furthers stereotypes and does nothing to bring understanding or harmony. The sooner it completes it's obligatory two and a half circuits of the globe and dies, the better.

Regards,

Bill

 

[Ororaro]

"I'm sure that men and fish can learn to live together."

No. Fish don't learn. And men eat them.

 

[Chris101]

I paid as much for my used Leica as I did for my new Nikon. Both cameras were more expensive than I could actually afford, so I added to the expense by paying Visa for the ability to 'buy it now'.

If I had to complain, it would be about consumer credit, not camera companies.

ps, yes, I am a wannabe

 

[Ororaro]

I paid as much for my used Leica as I did for my new Nikon. Both cameras were more expensive than I could actually afford, so I added to the expense by paying Visa for the ability to 'buy it now'.

If I had to complain, it would be about consumer credit, not camera companies.

ps, yes, I am a wannabe

Chris, Old wannabe friend! Me too I'm a wannabe.

Good to see you. Why aren't you posting more often?

 

[yanidel]

I'd be surprised if there were any Leica 'stooges' here.

I don't recall discussing it with anyone in Solms but I do know that most manufacturers regard internet forums as a penance:

Four Hail Marys and a week on the internet...

Cheers,

Roger

Any large company policy states that you are not allowed to communicate any information to the outside without approval from your PR people. So imagine you need to ask someone everytime you post if this is within company disclosure policy ... so Leica people probably do not post but of course they read forums. Some posts have some very insightful and detailed information about features liked, not liked or missing.
I would love to have such forums on the segment I work in! It is so hard to get genuine customer feedback.

 

[yanidel]

hehe.. oh.. I only wish I worked for Leica.. but you are correct, if Leica was as smart as we believe them to be they would have a marketing rep "around" doing research.

The only people I can think of in that sort of role that actually partake in online forums are Chuck Westfall of Canon and, maybe, Henry Posner of B&H Cameras. Obviously Chuck applies more to the role than Henry (being the retailer rather than representing the manufacturer as Chuck does).

Perhaps over at the Leica User Forum there is someone like Chuck and/or Henry.. who knows.. but it sure ain't me... trust me on that one 😀

Cheers
Dave

If it was you, you would give a free M8 to anybody over 100 posts on this forum, right ? 😉

 

[ath]

Any chance that they get into the condoms business ?? 😀

Are you kidding? That shutter could develop a pin hole...

 

[Athos6]

Are you kidding? That shutter could develop a pin hole...

One way to insure my wife gets something with a red dot on it! Did that go to far?? I'm never sure...

 

[Artorius]

This poll sucks

This poll sucks

Whether or not, I buy used or new, I should have the same respect as any other Leica user.

I think you blew this one.

FWIW: I buy both.

 

[micromontenegro]

No. Fish don't learn. And men eat them.

In my neck of the woods, piranhas eat people quite regullary, them scurvy scalliwags
😀

 

[M like Leica M6]

When was the last time Leica listened to its customers? It must have been around 1980.

As you can imagine I own a Leica M6. The M6 is a wonderful camera if you want a camera to shoot images and if you don't care about collecting cameras and showing off with technical bling-bling nonsense.

The MP is the modern M6. The finder is a little better, the shutter makes even a little less noise. But the MP has no rewind crank. The black paint is a joke. The price is infamy.

Leica has addressed the collector market with sequels of some great ideas from the 50s and 70s instead of taking photographers serious. There is a plethora of limited editions for collectors and an "à la carte" program for snobs - they are just exploiting their past instead of inventing the future.

So, I want to answer the original question: I do not talk to an authorized dealer because he has nothing to sell that I want to buy. And the reason is that Leica listens to collectors and not to photographers.

 

[Roger Hicks]

When was the last time Leica listened to its customers? It must have been around 1980. . . [of the MP] . . .
The finder is a little better, the shutter makes even a little less noise. But the MP has no rewind crank. The black paint is a joke.

Actually, a lot of people asked for black paint. Why do you find it 'a joke'? All you mean is, you don't like it.

As for the rewind crank, it's a zero sum game. The knob is less convenient, but tougher (yes, I once had to straighten out the crank on my M4-P in Slovenia afer a nasty knock), and you can always use the add-on crank.

After I'd bought my M4-P, I didn't really want another M until the MP came out. And when it did, I wanted black paint. Yes, it's scarred. Each scar reminds me of where it happened: a forest road in Hungary, the Summer Palace in China, a student party in Transylvania...

Cheers,

R.

 

[visiondr]

Many like to moan about how Leica is stuck in the past and hasn't done much to improve the M-series bodies. Perhaps that's because it is a nearly perfect photographic instrument. I am hearing guffaws right now. But, for the uses for which it is intended, it is very nearly perfect. And it is for that reason and for the small fact that many of the world's iconic photographic images were taken with an M-Leica, this camera is not just a photographic instrument - some mere tool - it is something of a cultural icon. If you want an auto focus, auto exposure, auto nearly everything camera, get a Canikon or some other wunderplastik camera.

Oh, and for what it's worth, my next lens will be new.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Many like to moan about how Leica is stuck in the past and hasn't done much to improve the M-series bodies. Perhaps that's because it is a nearly perfect photographic instrument.

Dear Ron,

I quite agree. A parallel I have used in the past is with the kind of person who asks why bicycles STILL have only two wheels.

Cheers,

Roger