How long until a Chinese company makes a digital rangefinder?

[TL7]

A lot of times handling & feel is the main factor as all cameras and lenses are very good these days. I'll take the 50mm Summilux over the Zeiss Otis...just for size and weight alone...if not for performance.
Leica M is nicer for me than Panasonic S5 even though the Panny blows it away in almost every performance reality.

 

[cboy]

I had reservations with Pixii when first released and of course the first of any system there was bound to be issues.
A YT preview of Pixii latest release also sees some issues as one user reported, but there has been improvements. But i'm still waiting for a FF version hopefully using possibly a FF sensor from china as sonnarbrian mentioned to keep costs down.

If Pixii addresses the valid points raised in the YT video im sure its products will certainly help expand the digital RF platform to users who are priced out from getting a new Leica

 

[boojum]

Well, so also do I. But if I find a camera is unresponsive when I need to capture a fleeting moment, difficult to find the correct settings due to a poor display or controls that operate inconsistently, running out of power after a half hour's light use, not providing adequate feedback to let me know the exposure has been made, etc etc, then that camera is not doing much to further my making photographs with it.

These are some of the difficulties I found when trying to use the Pixii, and are why I returned it ... as I detailed in the Pixii thread a year ago. And, just so you don't think I'm picking on the Pixii for some reason, I've returned or sold off many other cameras (from Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Minolta, Pentax, etc) over the years for similar reasons.

Of course, we all have different sensitivities and different tolerances for faults with the equipment. I have been a photographer, both as a committed amateur and as a professional, for something on the north side of 60 years. I suppose I'm somewhat demanding that equipment I use operate in a particular way, consistently, within a fairly constrained range of plusses and minuses. 🙂

G

My first camera was in 1947. In the intervening period I have learned more equipment tolerance and more rhetorical succinctness. Pliny the Elder reminds us that brevity is the soul of wit. This phrase was purloined by an Englishman.

 

[Dogman]

IMO the only thing that matters about a camera is whether or not you are comfortable with it. That encompasses a lot of things from the ergonomics to the image results and whether or not the user likes the aesthetics and how reliable it is. The cameras have to synchronize perfectly with the user's needs and desires. After that, it's a laid back ride without thinking too much about the gear.

I turned 75 recently and I still get excited about photography but I'm less excited about new cameras. I use old Nikon DSLRs along with more recent Fuji X-Pro and X100s. They're comfortable cameras, at least for me.

 

[Godfrey]

My first camera was in 1947. In the intervening period I have learned more equipment tolerance and more rhetorical succinctness. Pliny the Elder reminds us that brevity is the soul of wit. This phrase was purloined by an Englishman.

Good for you. Whatever that has to do with the discussion at hand, I don't know.

G

 

[cboy]

I guess if this is to be believed then it's one more step closer to an actual rangefinder camera...


TTartisan is working on a new T-1 mirrorless camera - Photo Rumors.
04.01.20?? 😄

 

[james.liam]

^^^ Whoopee. I'll place that in priority next to my PRC-crafted glazed coffee mugs laden with lead, dog food & baby formula tainted with lethal melamine and medications exported with carcinogenic contaminants. Can't wait.

 

[TL7]

If they can do an RF for around $1200 to $1500-..
Its good bye Pixii..
And maybe Leica M as well.

 

[Retro-Grouch]

f they can do an RF for around $1200 to $1500-..
Its good bye Pixii..
And maybe Leica M as well.

They just might, even if they lose money in the process. Once their foot is in the door, and they have some market share, prices would go up. This seems to have been the strategy with their initial lens offerings.

 

[Dogman]

Happy April 1.

 

[TL7]

Camera is FF w/ RF priced at $895!

 

[boojum]

Happy April 1.

Indeed

 

[jsrockit]

Camera is FF w/ RF priced at $895!

And only available for fools!

 

[Retro-Grouch]

You're all probably right that this is an April Fool's joke. However, it's well within the realm of possibility, and probably only a matter of time before it happens. If not TTArtisans, them some other Chinese company that comes in out of left field. Many a true word is spoken in jest!

 

[TL7]

Its April 2nd now..
And just a matter of time..

 

[jsrockit]

You're all probably right that this is an April Fool's joke. However, it's well within the realm of possibility, and probably only a matter of time before it happens. If not TTArtisans, them some other Chinese company that comes in out of left field. Many a true word is spoken in jest!

TTartisan admitted it was a joke. However, I do agree with you completely.

 

[Godfrey]

?? Even the faked illustration was of an EVF (nee: mirrorless) camera, not a rangefinder.

To say that 'It's a short step from there to an RF' is a blue sky conjecture at best. There has not been a single instance of an RF camera developed from an EVF camera yet. The RF mechanisms involved are completely absent. It's far easier to conceive of an RF camera being enhanced with EVF capabilities, as Leica has done with the M240 and M10, rather than the other way around. Pixii SAS could move in that direction as they already have a fine RF camera as a base to work with.

And what of notions of high build quality, good haptics and feel, etc? I tried a TTArtisans lens ... it performed pretty well optically, but felt like junk that wouldn't last at all. I returned it. Maybe it was my example... but the cheap Lomo lens I bought feels better made.

G

 

[TL7]

It wouldnt have to be a Mercedes camera..
A Toyota Corolla camera..would do just fine...
Price at $1200 to $1500..
Sell a ton of them..
Call it..model...HCB...
Done..fini... Pixii..
And watch Leica M sales drop..like a stone..

 

[jsrockit]

And watch Leica M sales drop..like a stone..

Uhm, Leica users do not buy Leica because they want a cheap feeling camera. There's nothing wrong with a cheaper alternative, but Leica is its own category. A luxury brand. I can see Leica users using a cheaper alternative as a second or third camera maybe.

 

[jszokoli]

If an inexpensive rangefinder camera was introduced, I don't think it would hurt Leica sales at all. It could in fact boost Leica sales in lenses and bodies. That was my experience. I can't ever have seen myself buying a Leica body if I had not dipped my toe into the Leica M system starting with a Voigtlander body and lenses. A mater of fact my first Leica M body was the ME (M9). From there I have purchased numerous digital Leica bodies as well as new lenses from Leica, Zeiss and Voigtlander. The one exception to buying new Leica bodies is I have never purchased a new Leica film body, although I've purchased M and screw mount bodies used.

(For me, the digital body had to be full frame as I like wides)

Joe