Just plain silly..

[Photo_Smith]

without real commitment or knowledge-seems a put down in this thread's context.

It would be if that was the entire meaning, of course that is contextual. In my dictionary it doesn't mention that sentence at all it seems to suggest a dilettante is a patron, a lover and someone who delights in something without participation.

why are people so put off by what a camera company does?
i read some of this drivel here, about the beginnings of leica from people who think they have a right to speak for leica at it's beginnings.
leica was invented to take advantage of cheap film that was lying about…and now they sell kits worth 28K…big deal!
it's a camera…buy it/use it/store it what the hell does it matter to anyone here?

i totally agree, it is up to people how they spend their money, and certainly Leica are wise to get as much as they can for whatever products they make.
If there's a market sell it.

 

[Bill Pierce]

Dear Bill,

What sort of focusing system would that be?

Cheers,

R.

If it were to be an autofocus system, it would have to be one of those that moves the film plane (i.e. sensor) rather than the lens so you could use existing Leica lenses. Those are pretty successful, but with macro and long lenses you have to do a rough manual focus first because of the amount of physical movement those systems require. I have to say, I am very impressed with the newer Fuji system than uses phase detection for rough focus and contrast detection for fine focus. Perhaps that system, but applied to focusing by moving the sensor, could be appropriate.

Manual focus would be more difficult because it would probably rely on looking at some kind of magnified image which would displace the viewfinder image while you were focusing. Perhaps we could go back to the earlier Leicas that had two eyepieces, one for framing/viewing and one for focusing.

Until that day comes, I have my own Leica N system, a lot of accessory shoe bright line finders purchased when they were relatively cheap have been shoved in the accessory shoes of everything from film SLR’s to Fuji X Pro (yes, the accessory Leica bright line finder is better than Fuji’s built-in).

 

[sparrow6224]

Well Bill, as with the Dylan Chrysler ad, I don't find this as crass and upsetting as it obviously is. In these days of killing by remote control, endless enticements to indulge in absolute crap, lies from dawn til dusk, I find Leica's behavior silly but basically fine. They make amazing stuff, still; and if they want to take advantage of monied Russians and Japanese collectors and the like, let 'em. To paraphrase Bogie in Casablanca, we'll always have the 50 Summicron. And the monochrom is for the me the first digital camera that has spoken to -- showed it understands, as it were -- what I love in photography. So mazel tov. They made some money. I like them better now than in the late 70s when they were about to kill the M and put their hopes in the R cameras with Minolta and Sigma zooms attached. And then go bankrupt.

 

[shadowfox]

That's one cool-looking signature.
Relax, it's business. And a business who can attract people to pay this kind of money for some perceived-value, is a smart one.

I admire Leica.

 

[Roger Hicks]

If it were to be an autofocus system, it would have to be one of those that moves the film plane (i.e. sensor) rather than the lens so you could use existing Leica lenses. Those are pretty successful, but with macro and long lenses you have to do a rough manual focus first because of the amount of physical movement those systems require. I have to say, I am very impressed with the newer Fuji system than uses phase detection for rough focus and contrast detection for fine focus. Perhaps that system, but applied to focusing by moving the sensor, could be appropriate.

Manual focus would be more difficult because it would probably rely on looking at some kind of magnified image which would displace the viewfinder image while you were focusing. Perhaps we could go back to the earlier Leicas that had two eyepieces, one for framing/viewing and one for focusing.

Until that day comes, I have my own Leica N system, a lot of accessory shoe bright line finders purchased when they were relatively cheap have been shoved in the accessory shoes of everything from film SLR’s to Fuji X Pro (yes, the accessory Leica bright line finder is better than Fuji’s built-in).

Dear Bill,

I'm genuinely not sure that Leica could sell such a camera with in-body autofocus, not least because it would need to be even bigger than an M Typ 240. But the Type 240 with an EVF is close to what you're after in manual focus.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Sejanus.Aelianus]

I'm genuinely not sure that Leica could sell such a camera with in-body autofocus, not least because it would need to be even bigger than an M Typ 240.

How thick is the body of the 1950 Mamiya 6? That used focal plane focussing for an 80mm lens, didn't it? So, if the maximum focal length was kept to 90mm, would the body need to be much thicker than a film M?

 

[Timmyjoe]

Totally back on topic, that camera is cool. Not crazy about the lens, but if Leica made a chrome version of the MM, for the same prices as the MM, I'd buy one in a heartbeat.

 

[Bill Pierce]

Dear Bill,

I'm genuinely not sure that Leica could sell such a camera with in-body autofocus, not least because it would need to be even bigger than an M Typ 240. But the Type 240 with an EVF is close to what you're after in manual focus.

Cheers,

R.

Roger -

I think you’re right. And I think there is a way to improve the accuracy of rangefinder focusing and stick with it. Even in the “old days” a lot of us used to take our new Leicas to independent repairman like Norm Goldberg who would adjust the rangefinder and cam feeler until any measurable tolerances were removed. If necessary, any new lens had the cam reground to eliminate any tolerances. This ‘Null, null” procedure produced the most accurate focus we could achieve. And a lot of folks thought this was necessary even though they were using slower lenses and imaging with high speed film. (And Leitz in Rockleigh was aware and supportive of this, often checking to make sure that things were still in order after particularly hard usage had put a little wear on our gear.)

With digital image quality and some of the incredible high speed lenses we have today, I think that null/null attitude is incredibly important. And, yet, the first three digital Leicas that I had showed noticeable focusing variations. I’ve kept some of my film Leicas, but I use other digital cameras now. It’s a difficult thing with legacy lenses and lenses from other folks than Leitz. With both older bodies and lenses, Leitz would probably have to equip independent repairman with the tools to null/null. My guess is they wouldn’t be too happy about it. But it sure would be nice if they did it at the factory with new gear and encouraged it to be done with older gear.