M8 perpetual upgrade program? What happened?

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Just wondered what happened to the M8 perpetual upgrade program?

Some earlier Leica smoke...

Dear LEICA M8 customers,

The desire to own a digital camera manufactured by Leica,
possessing the identical lifelong value retention associated with
every Leica product, was brought to us by many of our customers.
Leica Camera AG has now configured the LEICA M8 to meet this
demand. With today's newsletter, we would like to inform you
exclusively and in advance of an outstanding innovation regarding
your cherished LEICA M8.


With the introduction of a perpetual upgrade program, every LEICA
M8 will forever be a state-of-the-art digital camera. Today's and
tomorrow's users will always be able to incorporate the latest
refinements and developments in handling ease and technology. It is
our aim to secure your investment in the LEICA M8 for the future.
While other digital cameras quickly become outdated and are
replaced by newer models, our new concept extends the value
retention and resistance to obsolescence embodied in the Leica
ethos. Over time, we will gradually offer new product features and
developments as upgrade options, declares Steven K. Lee, CEO of
Leica Camera AG.

Our customers can therefore still invest in the photographic tools they need without worrying that they will miss out on improvements and technological developments along the way.

And...
 
Ya gotta larf!

We didn't really believe that hype did we? The full frame M9 was being conceived as this fairy tale went to press!

:p
 
Keith said:
Ya gotta larf!

We didn't really believe that hype did we? The full frame M9 was being conceived as this fairy tale went to press!

:p
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Well, some RFFers really did believe this marketing crap when it came out - just go back and read some of the M8 upgrade threads.
 
jaapv said:
Wishful thinking relegated to the dustbin of history...:(
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Agreed that it is whishful thinking
Not agreed to bin this lest we make the same mistake regarding the M9.
Digital products do not age well.
I remeber the majority of journals saying the Nikon D1x was as good as it gets and would cover all possible needs. At the time it was difficult to imagine better.
The M9 will have a similar shelf life to any high end digital camera and with that consideration I personaly can not justify the price.

All the best for 2010

Richard
 
This has been a lesson to take all manufacturers at face value and not treat Leica as any different to the rest of them.

I admit I believed that upgrade strategy to be genuine as most people did ... perhaps Leica believed it themselves briefly ... who knows for sure! :(

We move on and buy what we believe is right for us at the time ... I'm still happy with my M8 and that's all that matters currently.
 
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It was a dumb idea and was an extremely stupid idea for Leica. It would have killed sales of future cameras. I realize they were trying to convince longtime Leica users that they weren't going to start producing expensive, throw away cameras; but, like it or not, that's the digital reality.

In some legal sense, it is false advertising, and "bait and switch" sales. But the Leica Man sucks it up and moves on. :)
 
It took Leica a little longer than many others to realise what dump an idea it was. However, it seems that the related marketing disaster did not do any harm to Leica. Or, what other company could misguide its loyal customers to such extent, without consequences.
 
I can't say I ever believed the hype. That sort of program can't possibly be economically feasible. You can swap the M96 engine and Tiptronic tranny for an A91 and PDK on any Carrera from '99-'08, add the '09 front and rear fascias and so on, but it'll cost far more than just selling/trading up. The minor upgrades Leica offered (nothing like going to full-frame sensor and replacing the full electronics required) already cost an obnoxious amount for what was offered. Still, I'm happy it was attempted. Getting a more durable shutter and more conveniently-sized framelines in my M8 for less than it would've cost me to sell/trade up to an M8.2, also make me much happier to wait to buy an M9 until there are used/demos in plentiful supply. That alone will pay for the cost of my M8 upgrade and then some.
 
I have to say I believed them - but I had different expectations as to what "perpetual upgrades" meant. To me it could mean a trade in program as well as the replacement of specific parts or additional features to the M8. This seemed the logical way to keep such a commitment.

Unfortunately, there is no upgrade (even of something as trivial as lens selection) or even a trade up program. Just a unfulfilled promise...
 
Pickett Wilson said:
It was a dumb idea and was an extremely stupid idea for Leica. It would have killed sales of future cameras. I realize they were trying to convince longtime Leica users that they weren't going to start producing expensive, throw away cameras; but, like it or not, that's the digital reality.

In some legal sense, it is false advertising, and "bait and switch" sales. But the Leica Man sucks it up and moves on. :)
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The problem for Leica is that their high prices have always been justified by build quality and longevity of design. This has been our expectation. High prices can be justified for 'classic status' items such as an MP in terms of its build quality and longevity of design and possibly even investment potential for some items. I can justify the price for Leica lenses easilly. But stick a digital sensor on it and suddenly the build quality becomes less important as i know it is going to be a transient camera. I do not have the same emotional bonding with digital products. The only way I could justify the high cost for a digital product is if it did have an upgradable sensor / hardware. This has been discussed many times and is unlikely fro a number of reasons. Interestinlgy medium format backs can do this to some extent.). This being the case, Id prefer leica to come up with something more transient more rugged and less expensive. Lets spend the difference on lenses! I do not expect a digital RF to feel like an M3 and i do not expect it to be good over 50 years! We have to get away from this.

Best wishes


Richard
 
It is simply not cost-effective to gut the electronics from an existing integrated Digital camera and outfitting the mechanical portion with a new CCD and New electronics. It would be cheaper to buy the M9 than pay for the labor-intensive operation. Now, if it had a detachable back- it would have been big and defeated the purpose.

I would like to see the firmware upgraded to allow the manual entry of lenses to bypass the 6-digit coding, like the feature on the M9. As they use the same processor (I've read), that should not be cost-prohibitive and would earn a lot of respect for Leica.
 
Unless it was guaranteed in writing somewhere in the paperwork that came with your M8... I think people might have a hard time getting Leica to stick to it... we can't even get our elected officials to live up to what they promise in their campaign speeches :)
 
Brian Sweeney said:
It is simply not cost-effective to gut the electronics from an existing integrated Digital camera and outfitting the mechanical portion with a new CCD and New electronics. It would be cheaper to buy the M9 than pay for the labor-intensive operation. Now, if it had a detachable back- it would have been big and defeated the purpose.

I would like to see the firmware upgraded to allow the manual entry of lenses to bypass the 6-digit coding, like the feature on the M9. As they use the same processor (I've read), that should not be cost-prohibitive and would earn a lot of respect for Leica.
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I realise an upgradeable RF camera body is not cost effective. But if that is the case we should get ourselves used to something a bit less precious and a bit more disposable. It is the lenses that really matter.

Richard
 
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