Digital Leica CL in the works?

[Ronald_H]

This is just wild, wild speculation you understand, but...

Panasonic just introduced their latest m4/3rds camera, the GF1. They are partnered with Leica. Leica has offered rebranded Panasonics cameras in the recent past.

A rebranded Leica version of the GF1 seems somewhat logical, but maybe they surprise us... with a rangefinder version maybe? If you leave the LCD on youy would still be able to use the zooms AND we now have a 20 (40 equivalent) and a 45 (90 equivalent) lens! Just as the CL had.

Maybe Leica is still baulking at the software correction Panasonic uses to compensates for lens imperfections (silly to my mind) and the 20mm is branded as Panasonic, not Leica. But the 45mm is m4/3rds and Leica branded...

Wonder what the purists would say if Leica announces a digital CL in m4/3rds on the 9th of September.

 

[Ken Ford]

It would get my attention!

 

[Matus]

Hopefully is will not be just a rebranded Panasonic with double the price ... 🙄

 

[JoeV]

Here's a portion of a screenshot from Panasonic's website describing not only a new Lumix lens for the GF-1, but a Leica variant. So there's for sure now at least one u4/3 Leica branded lens; does this imply a camera body, too?

~Joe

All LUMIX G lenses comply with the Micro Four Thirds System standard for digital interchangeable lens system cameras. Even with their extremely small size, these high-performance lenses reflect Panasonic's advanced optical technologies, such as the MEGA O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer) system and a design that minimizes wide-angle distortion to further improve optical performance. The LEICA DG MACRO-ELMARIT 45mm / F2.8 ASPH. / MEGA O.I.S., which complies with the Micro Four Thirds System standard, has also been newly developed. Characterized by their compact size and light weight, these lenses bring out the full capabilities of the 4/3 image sensor, and support the Contrast AF function of the DMC-GF1.
* MEGA O.I.S. is not available on the LUMIX G 20mm / F1.7 ASPH. and the LUMIX G VARIO 7-14mm / F4.0 ASPH.

 

[kshapero]

With all these announcements of new almost rangefinder digitals, it is easy to lose sight of what it is all about. And that is the purity, IMHO, of photography. I think there are a bunch of us here that do not want 350,000 features of the digital world to get in the way of the intuitive nature of photography. My brain can handle ISO, focus, shutter speed and aperture as if it was an extension of my own mind. How much more can a mind handle? Just look at the list of features and controls on this new rig. Astounding!! Frankly much like all the other serious digitals. Digitally speaking the Epson R-D1 is the closest thing to the "real thing" ( I guess the M8, too.) So I am staying put with all this.

 

[ferider]

Even if they do, you probably won't like it.

Because of price.

Remember the price tag attached to the "more affordable" Summarit lens line. Why anybody would pay 1300 US for a 35/2.5 lens, when (s)he can get the Color Skopar is beyond me.

Then there is still the M8[.2] that has not yet been discontinued.

And then, for 9/9/9, they promised a solution for continued use of R lenses, which means full-frame (like the DMR). Much more likely that we will see an adaptation of the M9 (digital Visoflex) to those lenses ....

And, BTW, on the M9, if FF, lenses will be highly software corrected. Must be.

Roland.

 

[DougFord]

[FONT=&quot]The fixed lens idea doesn’t make sense to me. Leica sells lenses, and having two m-mount digital camera options, at different price points, is key. I think that they will EOL the M8.2 in the next 6-9 months. Introducing a new, ‘affordable’ 1.3x camera with an m-mount seems logical. The dCL 1.3 would have a traditional RF assembly and a huge sensor area advantage over the much smaller 4/3 sensors as found in the rangefinderless EP1 etc. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Entry level m4/3 pani GF1 re-badge, yes. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]But there should also be a mid-level compact m-mount dCL with a rangefinder, as the second m-mount camera option, IMO. [/FONT]