Leica's North America Roadshow (for the M9 and S2)

[scottwallick]

I'm considering going to the one on May 8 (for the M9) here in New York. Would be nice to meet any other RFFers who might attend.

http://us.leica-camera.com/news/events/workshops/by_date/1/

It seems registration is $99 (as it is a 'workshop,' I guess). From the site:

Be a part of Leica Camera's North America Products Road Show when it comes to New York City, NY on March 23 and 24, 2010. Learn more about the Leica M9, the world's smallest full-frame digital rangefinder camera and the M-System including our new lenses, the 18mm/f3.8, 50mm/f0.95, and the 24mm/f3.8 at an M-Event. The Leica S-System, the tool for fashion, beauty, advertising, landscapes, portraiture and still photography, will be featured at the S-Event.

Take this rare opportunity to enhance your knowledge or simply learn more about the M and/or S Systems.

Topics covered will include:
Camera & Lenses orientation
Troubleshooting & Maintenance
Understanding the Digital Imaging Process
Configuring Your Computer
Organizing & Storing Your Images
Lightroom Introduction
Color Management Introduction
Methods to Produce Better Work in Less Time
Strategies for Profitability

The cost for the comprehensive course is $99 for the M-Event and $149 for the S-Event. The group sizes are limited and are on a first come first serve basis.

All participants will receive a voucher which can be used towards the purchase of a brand new serialized M or S Leica product from a North American Leica Dealer.

 

[YamasDigital]

Leica's North America Roadshow

Leica's North America Roadshow

I participated in a Leica Safari in January that Justin Staley hosted and he was fantastic. I think the terms in the brochure are attractive, including the price.

Keith

 

[scottwallick]

I am pretty happy to take advantage of any opportunity to learn more about Lightroom, so I signed up last night for the one in New York on 5/8.

 

[wlewisiii]

If I wasn't so broke, I'd sign up for the Chicago event just to go and document it with my IIIf & Summitar... 😉

(Don't get me wrong, I've nothing against the M9/S2 digitals, I'm just emphatically not their market 😀 )

William

 

[popeye]

No Leica users in LA? One event planned in Irvine? Yet Cleveland and Indy are represented? WTF? I'll save my $99 plus gas money for the purchase of a camera and figure out the other stuff on my own...

 

[imokruok]

No Leica users in LA? One event planned in Irvine? Yet Cleveland and Indy are represented? WTF? I'll save my $99 plus gas money for the purchase of a camera and figure out the other stuff on my own...

No kidding! Could be a marketing decision by someone who doesn't know the area well. Irvine might as well be Las Vegas for me. 50 miles away on a map of LA is like 300 miles anywhere else.

 

[scottwallick]

No Leica users in LA? One event planned in Irvine? Yet Cleveland and Indy are represented? WTF? I'll save my $99 plus gas money for the purchase of a camera and figure out the other stuff on my own...

I believe there is an LA event, March 27, separate from the one in Irvine.

http://us.leica-camera.com/news/news/1/7094.html

 

[Doug]

So, for those who have gone to one of the Leica Roadshow events around the country, how did you like it? Interesting? Tempting? Get your questions answered? Worth the cost?

I attended the event in Seattle last week. Drove 110 miles to get there... Managed to avoid traffic bottlenecks both going and coming back, not sure how I got that lucky. Mine wasn't the farthest drive, though, since there was a couple from Vancouver... one assumes Canada not WA, as there are both.

We had the Leica regional sales manager and one of his staff who MC'd the event, a rep from local dealer Glazer's Camera who brought the model and flash gear, and Portland-based pro landscape photographer Jason Waicunas (http://www.jasonsvision.com/) to show some of his results shot with the new Leica he'd had on loan. And gave us some of his photographic guidance I think reprised from workshops he puts on. Interesting.

I brought an SD card with me so as to save some shots if I had the chance. During the model shoot we just handed off the camera to the next person, so my card wasn't in the camera. As that was wrapping up, I picked up another camera, put my card in and formatted it, then shot some out the hotel window of nearby city scenes. Not great shots but it gave me the opportunity to get more familiar with the camera, and that was nice. The files are big and luscious, but it was very windy so there was subject movement, and I should have set the ISO (and thus shutter speed) higher because I suffered some camera shake too, particularly noticeable due to the high resolution.

 

[dleyva2]

Leica North American Road Show

Leica North American Road Show

I have no relation, but thought this might be of interest to some here.
Cheers.

http://www.shutterbug.com/news/032910leica/

 

[tdtaylor]

I attended the Washington DC show. If you want to handle equipment (although the 21,24 and Nocti were missing), it was a good opportunity, and several were intensely comparing their 8.2 against the 9 to figure whether to upgrade- once again, an excellent opportunity.

But the majority of the time was spent going through menus and setting the camera up the way the commentator liked to set it up. There were about a third of us who were very familiar with the M9, and were rather bored. It was obvious the majority of the group did not have an M9 or an M8. Very little time was spent on on workflow (forced into the last half hour), which was something I was interested in, since there are so many methods to get from A to B. We did have a guest speaker with CBS who covers the White house, and he was wonderful.

Also, the $100 certificate is for serialized products only, purchased from an authorized North American Leica Dealer. You send in the receipt with the certificate after the product is purchased.

I am suspicious that many of the Road Show venues have been different than ours, including a full complement of Leica equipment. If you are a rookie or debating whether to buy a M9, this was a fantastic opportunity. You could handle the camera for hours to get a real feel for the camera. If you are a experienced user, you may want to think hard whether you should attend. I had a free afternoon, so it was fine to pass the time.

Terry

 

[ramosa]

i think the $99 price tag keeps the riffraff (like me) away. but let us know how it goes. i sure could use some instruction!

 

[Ronald M]

Leica used to do this sort of thing free to entice new customers.

Pay to see a salesman talk? No way.

Plus they don`t even have Chicago listed, but they have pleanty od Podunk towns

 

[Doug]

Hi Ronald -- The Roadshow schedule shows a Chicago S2 event on May 4th, but the nearest M9 event appears to be Indianapolis in June... and they don't get the S2 there!

I hear you guys about the cost. Having experience with the M8, I was more curious about the S2 than the M9, so I plunked down $149, and the event I attended in Seattle was for the S2 dSLR camera, while the M9 presentation I didn't see was the next day.

It was "intimate", with only 5 "customers" present so we all had plenty of opportunity to raise questions and handle/fondle the gear! Those we remembered to ask, of course... I totally forgot to ask the pro-photog beta-tester if he'd checked to see how much benefit there was, if any, in raising the mirror for the exposure. It felt so smooth...

 

[scottwallick]

Update (and a bump)

Update (and a bump)

Just received the following note from Leica regarding the upcoming Roadshow in New York on Saturday, May 8.

Dear Participant,

We look forward to seeing you at Leica’s upcoming Road Show M-event in New York on May 8th, 2010. The event will starts at 1:00 p.m. and we expect to end around 5:00 p.m. Your M-event will be held at:

SVA
132 West 21st St, 2nd Floor
New York, NY

If you would like to take files from the M9 home, please bring a SD card with you.

I'll be there. Anyone else going?

 

[Doug]

Managed a couple of shots of Pro photog Jason setting up the model shoot at the Seattle event. Just got the APS film developed from the Canon ELPH Jr... 🙂

Edit: I did get a response from Jason Waicunas on my question about mirror lockup:

"Thanks for attending the Road Show; it was good to meet you as well. For the long exposures I was using, none of them slower than 2 seconds, I used the mirror lock a couple times, but noticed no difference. Then again, I did not specifically make comparison tests, which is the right thing to do when making proper judgment for test purposes. I no longer have the camera, so you might direct this question to Victor Naranjo, the S2 rep."

 

[Bill Blackwell]

I'm signed up for the event in Irvine - May 20.

I hope to meet some of you there.