Popular Photography magazine article

Loved this:

"Just as he had made basic, inexpensive 35mm SLR camera bodies with various lensmounts, why not do the same for digital cameras?

"Look at the short life of digital SLRs and their continuously falling prices," rejoined Kobayashi. "Why should I get into that mess?"
 
Herbert Keppler did a nice article about 6 years back on the Konica, Bessa-R, and Leica compared with SLR's. I'll try to find the issue; I have it at home. It was a very fair article and the punchline was great. I'm not going to paraphrase, I'll post it when found.
 
Liked the article. I do wish Kobayashi would find a way to accomodate the desire of many to bridge their classic camera systems into the digital world. A digital RF chassis that accomodates several classic lens mounts is not the same as chasing the fickle DSLR market.
 
VinceC said:
Liked the article. I do wish Kobayashi would find a way to accomodate the desire of many to bridge their classic camera systems into the digital world. A digital RF chassis that accomodates several classic lens mounts is not the same as chasing the fickle DSLR market.
Click to expand...
It's not the consumers that are fickle in the digital market and that's not what he was saying.

If Cosina manufactures a digital RF, they then have to the subscribe to constantly updating the technology in order to keep the camera marketable/competitive. Their focus will be forced to shift to developing sensor technology, rendering/interpolation software, and so on rather then classic camera manufacture.

That was his point. 🙂
 
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>>If Cosina manufactures a digital RF, they then have to the subscribe to constantly updating the technology in order to keep the camera marketable/competitive.<<

Perhaps so. But I bought my 3MP digital point-and-shoot five years ago (a Canon G1), and it remains more than functional. I think in the meantime that digital technology has matured to the point that something in the 6-8 MP range with stable software would not have to be updated all that frequently. Leave it to Leica to define the top end. I think there's a market for several thousand units of an affordable digital RF chassis to accomodate classic users. We're talking about a group of folks using 50-year-old cameras, so I'm not certain how concerned they would be about constant updates to a stable, functional system. And from a business point of view, $125 profit, after manufacturing and marketing costs, on 2,000 unit-sales is still a quarter-million dollars. Not going to make anyone rich, but it pays the bills for a few weeks.
 
Kobayashi is representative a "hidden" independent side of Japanese manufacturing that is otherwise dominated by the giant kieretsu organizations.

Those here who are bicyclists may be familar with Rivendell - a rather iconoclast bike firm in northern California. They source many compoents and framesets from a small independent Japanese firm (Netto, I think is the name) which also adheres to older production practices and "flies under the radar" of the big conglomerates.

I like to think that firms such as these are maitaining a Japanese "craft tradition" that serves to satisfy those of us who enjoy the "classic approaches". 😉
 
Very nice artile, thanks for pointing it out. 🙂

As the happy owner of two Cosina-Voigtlander camera bodies and four CV lenses I am glad that Mr. Kobayashi has continued in the "craft tradition". In my opinion he is to be congratulated for continuing to offer affordable, simple, good quality products in an era in which product cycles are measured in weeks instead of years. Three cheers for Mr. K.

Apropriate comparison to Rivendell, as Mr. K and Grant P. may have a lot in common. Rivendells are beautiful machines but a bit higher priced...some may consider them the Leicas of the bike world.

Side note to George: on May 21 I'll be passing through Copake on NY route 22 south. I'm support crew as a friend of mine attempts to break the UMCA New York State bicycle crossing record. I expect we'll be passing through town in mid-afternoon. Any chance you could rally the denizens of Copake to form a "cheering section" along Rt. 22? That would really fire my buddy up. PM me if you can help.
 
Vince, I couldn't agree more. We are all waiting for Cosina to make a generic digital body with a Leica mount. It doesn't have to last forever, just 6 years is fine by me.
 
justins7 said:
Vince, I couldn't agree more. We are all waiting for Cosina to make a generic digital body with a Leica mount. It doesn't have to last forever, just 6 years is fine by me.
Click to expand...

They've already done that in conjunction with Epson - the RD-1.
 
>>They've already done that in conjunction with Epson - the RD-1.<<

The $3,000-plus RD-1 demonstrated that there's a specialized D-RF market. However, a camera in the $1,000 to 1,200 price range would be a realistic price for what most people are willing to spend ... in line with the D-SLR prices.
 
Thank you Koybayashi San for keeping this gear alive and not going with the herd. I only own one CV lens, the 35 f2.5 Skopar for my Lieca and its one of my favorites. It was one point in the article that caught my notice, how much was APS a drag on camera manufacturer profits when the format was clearly a dud?

Bill
 
Kobayashi almost single-handedly revitalized the rangefinder world. Until he came along, you could buy Leica, used Leica or antiques. Ten years ago, I never would have imagined I could buy a brand new, modern 25mm lens for my antiquated camera system.

And, to be fair, his quote about digital was in response to a suggestion Keppler made about introducing an affordable digital SLR (not that there isn't a market for an all manual D-SLR, as well). We all owe a huge debt to this gentleman's deep appreciation for classic cameras.
 
VinceC said:
>>They've already done that in conjunction with Epson - the RD-1.<<

The $3,000-plus RD-1 demonstrated that there's a specialized D-RF market. However, a camera in the $1,000 to 1,200 price range would be a realistic price for what most people are willing to spend ... in line with the D-SLR prices.
Click to expand...

I would be fantastic if it could be made and sold for that price, but I don't think the market is big enough to drive prices down to that level. As long as RF remains a niche, prices are going to have to be high in order to recover R&D costs. IMHO
 
VinceC said:
Perhaps so. But I bought my 3MP digital point-and-shoot five years ago (a Canon G1), and it remains more than functional.
Click to expand...
Yes, it remains functional but Canon would be a dead company if it had stopped there. The technology of digital is a whole different game and mindset then the technology of film in research (costs, timelines, etc...), manufacture (initial investment, training, etc...), and remaining competitive.
 
Gid said:
I would be fantastic if it could be made and sold for that price, but I don't think the market is big enough to drive prices down to that level. As long as RF remains a niche, prices are going to have to be high in order to recover R&D costs. IMHO
Click to expand...

I wonder how much of the high price of the Epson is due to licensing fees payable to Leica for use of the M-mount?

I do not know anything about such arrangements - but I would hazard to guess that being licensed to produce an interchangeable M-mount camera body has significant fees to the patent holder (i.e. Leica)?
 
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