TRIago
Established
If you think having MP and M-P being sold at the same time is not weird, then there's something wrong with you. Of course I'm talking about the names of the models only.
Issues with Leica, the company
- Thread starter kshapero
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jaapv
RFF Sponsoring Member.
Some people simply have problems if a name has more than one letter or digit it seems. It turns out Leica was right in avoiding the M10 label One letter-two digits would have overwhelmed some users.🙄
Vince Lupo
Whatever
I just looked at Nikon's website and pulled up all their DSLR's. There are 16 of them, and some of them have multiple buying options (like 'the filmmaker's kit', 'the animator's kit' etc). Gave me a headache looking at all the various 'D' bodies and their iterations.
Leica doesn't confuse me at all, and the various naming schemes don't personally bother me. If you find it confusing and upsetting, look away! Quite simple really.
Leica doesn't confuse me at all, and the various naming schemes don't personally bother me. If you find it confusing and upsetting, look away! Quite simple really.
kshapero
South Florida Man
What!!! Nikon's naming scheme is very logical. Now quick: Difference between an MP and a M-P. Quick....see wacko!!
rhl-oregon
Cameras Guitars Wonders
Simple--MP is the Member of Parliament model, M-P the Military Police model. Wait. I may have it backwards.
jaapv
RFF Sponsoring Member.
Which MP? the original or the new one?
jaapv
RFF Sponsoring Member.
Actually Leica revamped the naming scheme to resemble other technical objects - like Mercedes for instance or BMW. A Mercedes 500 S can be one of various models with the Wxxx types denoting the various chassis types over the years, etc. it appeals to the logical and tidy German mind, the more chaotic and pragmatic Anglo-Saxons and their colonial spinoffs will be confused by this type of systematic thinking.
kshapero
South Florida Man
There in lies the confusion.😕
jaapv
RFF Sponsoring Member.
Indeed, but the MP is still within the old film camera naming scheme. Were it that the full name were MP Typ987 versus MP Typ123, there would be no confusion.
FrozenInTime
Well-known
So when Rip Van Winkle wakes up, he will still be able to walk into a shop and ask for a Leica M, 50mm Summicon and some Tri-X 😉
That may be the official story (I don't know), but I just don't believe that is the true reason.
Why?
Over half a century of M mount cameras prior to the M240 - appropriately named products by far more logical German minds.
Stephen
jaapv
RFF Sponsoring Member.
I wouldn’t know why. One naming scheme has little advantage over the other to my mind. It is just a camera- and just a name.
Michael Markey
Veteran
Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
I used to call my M8 all sorts of names .... none of them particularly flattering! 😛
jaapv
RFF Sponsoring Member.
Why should it make sense?
As it is it is quite logical. The letter denotes the type of camera and the number in the background the specific model.
Sometimes, for extra clarity or for marketing reasons there may be a nickname like Monochrom, or Safari, or Titanium, or even more of a complicating and confusing factor, given by customers like MM2 or M10 (the most confusing one of all as it will have the uninitiated searching for a nonexistent camera - however our Bartender is in the good company of Erwin Puts by using the designation colloquially)
As it is it is quite logical. The letter denotes the type of camera and the number in the background the specific model.
Sometimes, for extra clarity or for marketing reasons there may be a nickname like Monochrom, or Safari, or Titanium, or even more of a complicating and confusing factor, given by customers like MM2 or M10 (the most confusing one of all as it will have the uninitiated searching for a nonexistent camera - however our Bartender is in the good company of Erwin Puts by using the designation colloquially)
Michael Markey
Veteran
I think that`s my point really.
If there is a requirement for extra clarity it suggests that it isn`t sufficiently clear in the first case.
Until this new nomenclature was introduced there wasn`t a requirement for an additional naming structure for either clarity or marketing purposes.
jaapv
RFF Sponsoring Member.
Eh? M9 Hermes, Titanium, M6J? etc...
mcfingon
Western Australia
The M8 was obviously intended for Aussies, Keith.
JoeV
Thin Air, Bright Sun
Ahem. I wasn't even aware there were two different monochrome models already. Obviously I'm not the target audience, or I haven't been paying attention.
As for there being merely seven different models for sale, of course that's only counting new cameras, not the used market. And that's only right now. In six months it'll change again. But surely we should be expected to remember... Oh never mind.
~Joe
V-12
Well-known
The new naming denotes a specific camera, but it doesn't explain a specific model. Leica started out with good intentions for the M3, but soon saw a flaw in their strategy. So they defaulted to a numerical progression that at least told customers when in the Leica catalogue it appeared. Leica have been quoted as wanting a new naming strategy similar to that used by the iconic Porsche company, hence Typ 240, then Typ 246 (presumably the new model of the M240, but maybe a backwards step because I hear people are complaining the colour output isn't very good). Meanwhile Porsche have gone from the Typ 996, to Typ 997, to the next logical step the Typ 991.... It all makes sense to aficionados, or people who work in the factory, but Typ numbers and T, Q, X, etc. are meaningless to most people just browsing for a new camera, and if their attention isn't grabbed immediately it's a potential lost sale. Why has Zeiss started giving it's premium lenses weird names for instance? Yes, well spotted, it's to make them memorable, to equate rave reviews with memories of seeing an advert for them. It all comes together in the buyers mind even before they look up the price. How different to the amorphous Leica derived names, I mean what does 'X' mean, what does it tell you? What does Typ 246 tell you?
V
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