New range of Leica cameras .

semi-ambivalent said:
That's a good point, but let me ask this: The whole HCB/Street Thing occupies an enormous part of the Leica world view. But is there any real, empirical data indicating just what are the predominant shooting 'styles' of Leica's customers? Is Leica being held to a historic mannerism that not only no longer represents the bulk of its customers but actually hurts its marketplace performance by forcing it to adhere to design aspects that are detrimental to future viability? What if those retired dentists and their Noctilux's golfing images really are the ones saving the company? Why should street shooters be calling the shots any more than they?

Let me add that I like Leica RFs a lot and I like using them. If I didn't I also have a few Nikons and a slew of lenses I could be using, but I prefer the RF these days and am not likely to change back.

I'll add here a shout-out to Wetzlar to say I could sell all of my Nikkors and not have enough money to buy a single new 35mm Summilux FLE. Take from that what you will. ;)

s-a
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I have nothing against Leica making an EVF AF camera, as long as it doesn't mean the death of the mechanical RF M series.

You are correct that they need more 'modern' cameras to please some of their 'dentist' and brand conscious fashionista customers, who aren't serious enough photographers to put in the time and practice to master something like the M series. But do we really need to kill the ONLY mechanical RF camera on the market, a unique and specialized tool, so that someone can have an EVF AF camera with a red dot on the front?

Make it a separate product line and leave the M alone.
 
By the way as an M240 owner there are far more pressing issues that Leica should be trying to solve. First and foremost is the metering system in the M. It's far too primitive and 'dumb' for a digital camera. It worked perfectly with the analog cameras, because negative film is incredibly forgiving in regards to exposure errors. Digital is not forgiving and when it goes wrong it turns ugly pretty quickly (blown highlights). They really need to figure out how to integrate a modern matrix meter in the camera. In all likelihood it could take a reading off the prism block and integrate transparently into the traditional design.
 
Harry Lime said:
By the way as an M240 owner there are far more pressing issues that Leica should be trying to solve. First and foremost is the metering system in the M. It's far too primitive and 'dumb' for a digital camera. It worked perfectly with the analog cameras, because negative film is incredibly forgiving in regards to exposure errors. Digital is not forgiving and when it goes wrong it turns ugly pretty quickly (blown highlights). They really need to figure out how to integrate a modern matrix meter in the camera. In all likelihood it could take a reading off the prism block and integrate transparently into the traditional design.
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I think you may have a point rather than bring out a new line why not stick with the same cameras but make them more robust and reliable with more modern metering.
 
Harry Lime said:
You can scale focus with an AF lens, but it's more difficult than with a manual focus lens, because the focus throw is much shorter and a lot of the manufacturers have removed the distance scales. You can still do it, but now its a PIA.
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thanks its so reassuring to know what i already knew.
 
Harry Lime said:
I have nothing against Leica making an EVF AF camera, as long as it doesn't mean the death of the mechanical RF M series.

You are correct that they need more 'modern' cameras to please some of their 'dentist' and brand conscious fashionista customers, who aren't serious enough photographers to put in the time and practice to master something like the M series. But do we really need to kill the ONLY mechanical RF camera on the market, a unique and specialized tool, so that someone can have an EVF AF camera with a red dot on the front?

Make it a separate product line and leave the M alone.
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Harry,

I agree about leaving the M alone. I don't think it's in any real trouble actually, the release of the M-A is proof of that. (Unless...(unless acceptance of the meter-less M-A is a green light to Leica to design a modern meter that might not fit in the mechanical M body volume. You want your stinkin' archaic Bresson trip? Ya got it; go buy an M-A and a Sekonic. The 'rest' of Leica must move on...))

Leica needs to make payroll of course, and if those dentists are paying the bills (don't make the mistake of assuming they must be a minority), Leica would be stupid to ignore them. I'm OK with that. Thinking Leica must be permanently wedded to nothing but mechanical cameras that are essentially unchanged since 1954 well, that's just a fashionista's thinking of a different stripe, isn't it?

Leica can make M-As and MPs in their sleep, have committed to spare parts for fifty years for the MP and sold me my MP with a five year warranty that they'll probably never have to service. Leica could batch a few thousand, or revive the tooling as needed like Nikon did for the SP 2000. Ms are safe. :) And a separate product line is where I think it (a 'modern' Leica) will go as well.

Thanks,
s-a
 
don't fret. it's a new range of cameras, not the discontinuation of the m rangefinder. the bodies with an evf (or possibly a hybrid viewfinder :)) and af lenses will coexist with their current range of products. unlike slrs, they don't have to make compromises with the viewfinder that favor one type of lens over the other.
 
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