Leica L1 and L2 ...

I "hate" the idea. One step further to become a luxury brand for millionairs instead of the best maker of cameras and lenses for photographers.
Take a look at their 0.95 series of products - lighters for 800$ etc.
 
So does the chronometer measure the amount of time the Leica digital camera is away for repair?
Ridiculous boutique addition for the once great marque.

Phil Forrest
 
I hope it sells very well! Like all corporations, the market is there, and Leica needs the money, it doesn't matter what they sell or how much, if it keeps them in business and moving forward, I am all for it. I cannot begrudge anyone selling boutique watches.

Now where is my lottery ticket!:p
 
Not my cup of tea but if it helps their bottom line and allows them to continue producing cameras and lenses that I *do* like then I hope they all sell out on the first day.
 
dave lackey said:
I hope it sells very well! Like all corporations, the market is there, and Leica needs the money, it doesn't matter what they sell or how much, if it keeps them in business and moving forward, I am all for it. I cannot begrudge anyone selling boutique watches.

Now where is my lottery ticket!:p
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To what direction would they "move forward" though? Business will always lean toward easy money. Let them get the taste of it once, and they'll never let go the feel of it.
 
Archlich said:
To what direction would they "move forward" though? Business will always lean toward easy money. Let them get the taste of it once, and they'll never let go the feel of it.
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Leica has been luxury all along, this is a drop in the bucket as they do, and rightly so, have a high-end market. They can not survive any other way. They know what they are doing.;)

Can I afford them? No way. But that is not their problem, it is mine alone.:D
 
These are actually pretty serious watchmaking (relatively speaking), not some random watch with Leica logo. The movement is by a small German manufacturer, and the second-resetting complication is rather interesting. In the world of luxury watches, the price point is not that high (again, relatively speaking).

If they are serious about getting into this game, they'll probably be competing with A Lange & Sohne (semi-highend), Glashutte Original (mid), Nomos Glashutte (casual). I think their overall design language needs to be refined over a few iterations, but there is a potential, and hey Leica is not new to metal, glass, gears and springs.

Would I buy L1/L2? No. Too big for my taste and wrist, design not refined enough for what I expect from Leica, and too many competing watches in the price range. It's hard to go for this one over an ALS. Future model maybe in a few years? I won't deny the possibility.
 
dave lackey said:
Leica has been luxury all along, this is a drop in the bucket as they do, and rightly so, have a high-end market. They can not survive any other way. They know what they are doing.;)

Can I afford them? No way. But that is not their problem, it is mine alone.:D
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But they haven't just been luxury all along. They used to be serious tools for photographers in nearly every newsroom in the world. Not just owned by the very well-to-do, but by normal working professionals. Same goes for Rollei, an extraordinary piece of gear for the professional photographer but also serious amateurs. They abandoned the working photographer market in favor of the very well off over the past two decades. They had been passed up by Nikon and Canon back in the 1960s. They refused to innovate in time for the digital sea change and came into the game a decade late with products that didn't have the reliability for serious full time photographers who weren't independently wealthy with an arsenal of backup digital Leicas. Fuji, Sony, Nikon and Canon passed Leica generations ago in the timeline of digital capture. Leica's customer service went the way of the dodo at this time as well. I'm sorry to agree that they know what they are doing but what that is happens to be sad for those of us who like the once-great marque. What they are doing is just creating jewelry which happens to make photos.
When I can use a Leica M9 with one of two ~50mm lenses on it, both representing the high and low ends of the gear spectrum and making the same image, then something is wrong. There is no reason for my old $16 Helios 103 to perform on-par, shot-for-shot, aperture-for-aperture, against a brand new 50mm Summicron.
So they do know what they are doing. They are pricing out those of us who defend or defended their use in spite of the arcane mode of focusing and loading so we can have a quiet camera. Now, we have quiet paperweights or quietly on hold while someone at Leica tells us why our camera has been out for repair for a total of nine out of twenty-one months.
I can still afford a Mercedes-Benz E300 Diesel. That's a car on the edge of executive class with very good customer service and excellent reliability. It costs the same amount as a new Leica M digital camera with a suite of three lenses. Don't even bring up the larger format Leica versions costing a significant chunk of what a decent house in Philadelphia does.
As one of the former working photographers that Leica abandoned I think the watch line is just a gross addition to their continued shift into the jewelry business.

Phil Forrest
 
Phil_F_NM said:
But they haven't just been luxury all along. They used to be serious tools for photographers in nearly every newsroom in the world. Not just owned by the very well-to-do, but by normal working professionals. Same goes for Rollei, an extraordinary piece of gear for the professional photographer but also serious amateurs. They abandoned the working photographer market in favor of the very well off over the past two decades. They had been passed up by Nikon and Canon back in the 1960s. They refused to innovate in time for the digital sea change and came into the game a decade late with products that didn't have the reliability for serious full time photographers who weren't independently wealthy with an arsenal of backup digital Leicas. Fuji, Sony, Nikon and Canon passed Leica generations ago in the timeline of digital capture. Leica's customer service went the way of the dodo at this time as well. I'm sorry to agree that they know what they are doing but what that is happens to be sad for those of us who like the once-great marque. What they are doing is just creating jewelry which happens to make photos.
When I can use a Leica M9 with one of two ~50mm lenses on it, both representing the high and low ends of the gear spectrum and making the same image, then something is wrong. There is no reason for my old $16 Helios 103 to perform on-par, shot-for-shot, aperture-for-aperture, against a brand new 50mm Summicron.
So they do know what they are doing. They are pricing out those of us who defend or defended their use in spite of the arcane mode of focusing and loading so we can have a quiet camera. Now, we have quiet paperweights or quietly on hold while someone at Leica tells us why our camera has been out for repair for a total of nine out of twenty-one months.
I can still afford a Mercedes-Benz E300 Diesel. That's a car on the edge of executive class with very good customer service and excellent reliability. It costs the same amount as a new Leica M digital camera with a suite of three lenses. Don't even bring up the larger format Leica versions costing a significant chunk of what a decent house in Philadelphia does.
As one of the former working photographers that Leica abandoned I think the watch line is just a gross addition to their continued shift into the jewelry business.

Phil Forrest
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Haha! Totally understand!!!

My mistake, by "luxury", I meant high priced. In the 60s, we were lucky to have a cheap Kodak camera and Craftsman tools. A Leica? No one in my parts ever heard of the name and could not afford it anyway. It was a high-priced luxury for working folks. Craftsman tools were always much cheaper than Snap-On. Never owned Snap-On tools either.

Leica today is not the Leica of yesterday. Nothing seems to be anymore... sigh...

But if Leica were not around, it would be a dismal photographic world, IMO. So whatever they do to stay alive is fine with me. I like their products... until they break.

Heck, I cannot even afford a "professional" Nikon kit. But whatever it takes for Nikon to survive, in this world where their income is sinking, so be it.

I will stick with my little X1, my lens-less R4, and FM2n. Not sure about the 6x6 Hassy long term as medical bills keep piling up... Come to think of it, Leica never made a dime off me. LOL..:D

Always bought used...
 
That's fine with me.

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