SLR Magic DISCONTINUES 50/0.95 and all RF lenses

I think it was a clash of cultures. Mr miyazaki was a man that took big pride on what he was doing, in a very small product scale. We all know the difficulties in matching M bodies to wide aperture lenses. maybe some of the customers recieved examples that were in their mind not calibrated right. The reason might as well been that the bodies were the reason, but the blame was put on the lens. This is not well acepted by a retired japanese gentleman who does these lenses more as a hobby.
 
"Hopefully when the HyperPrime LM 50mm T0.95 get acceptance as a new third party lens we will consider to continue future RangeFinder coupled lens projects again."

Good luck with that...

Excellent example of how not to write a press release.
 
There were problems with calibration and doubts about the mechanical stability (use of locktite). The resulting internet kafuffle was not pretty from both sides. I think this is the only forum left that does not close SLR Magic threads as a matter of routine...:rolleyes:
In use I found the lens too heavy (1 kg approx.) and large and it needed to be supported with the left hand to avoid it leaning in the bayonet, which affected focussing accuracy.
I did not test it extensively, but the optical quality appeared to be quite good. As it should be @ 5000$.
 
jarski said:
getting Steve Huff raving the lens on his site was their only success with this Noktor.
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After having a critical comment about his Monchrom part 3 deleted, I have decided that Huff is all smoke and no mirrors.
 
To bring a product like this to market requires plenty deep pockets. Apart from R and D to develop the lens there is the need to set up production facilities, engage suppliers, establish QA operations, and train staff. Then there is marketing and advertising to think about plus logistics infrastructure. The list goes on. Whenever there was criticism of the lens consistency / quality on the internet the firm did seem to respond pretty, well shall we say, "robustly". I imagine they knew how fine the line was between success and failure and this accounted for their sensitivity. Shame but if you are selling a product worth several grand into a market where quality is all - you better deliver quality. I would rate this firms main competitor as the Voigtlander 50mm f1.1 perhaps rather than the Leica original and this new lens was several times the asking price of the Cosina offering. In those circumstances its a big gamble and success needs every ball to line up. It looks as if it was just too big an ask for a small company. Its a bit rich in the circumstances for the company to blame the public - the customer is always right after all!
 
Oh no! I bet the "Leica community" will apologize within the next couple of days and will start to order this magnificent lens en masse in order to convince SLR Magic to please "consider" another rf coupled lens again.

Lol. Seriously? This is like buying a 5000 dollar lens from a kid on a playground.

digitalintrigue said:
"Hopefully when the HyperPrime LM 50mm T0.95 get acceptance as a new third party lens we will consider to continue future RangeFinder coupled lens projects again."

Good luck with that...

Excellent example of how not to write a press release.
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Ive followed one of those "bashing" articles. The reviewer was amazed with the optical quality, but pointed out some mechanical problems (ie. the focus wasnt smooth, the aperture blades were scratched). A SLR Magic worker started commenting on the thread that the customer is wrong and what not...

Gosh. Grow up. Just disappointing.
 
This will be a good case study for 1)great intentions 2)lousy execution and 3)even lousier public relations.
 
jonmanjiro said:
Sounds like you've got your wires crossed there.

Mr. Miyazaki's small company is MS Optical, not SLR Magic. The fastest lens Miyazaki-San has made is his Sonnetar 50/1.13 which has not yet started shipping AFAIK.
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Sorry about the mix up! I wondered also why this very likeable gentleman would take such steps in his retirement hobby...
 
Is the execution so lousy though? I have not seen one in person, I wouldn't know. But the few people who have them seem to be giving different impressions on the build quality. Some seemed to be caught up trying to reconcile perceived value with real value. A lot of people who don't have them seem to be hung up on the idea that it is made in China.

Not that bratty whining has ever been good reason to cancel a product, nor paint a broad community with one brush. It's a bad idea to burn bridges if they plan to come back with another or better product for the same community.

richardhkirkando said:
Would you buy a new car from a company called "Bicycle Magic" that has only ever built wheelchairs?
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Would you buy Marshmallows from the National Biscuit Company? ;)
 
boomguy57 said:
So, they cancelled their line of lenses because their feelings got hurt on the Internet?
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while i do agree with you that it's a sign of a company having very 'thin skin'....i also understand their point of vew.

this is a new company which likely relies on internet orders and reviews for most of their 'word of mouth'. This is not 1985 where 'word of mouth' means the word on the street. In 2012 'word of mouth' is internet conversation, until proven otherwise. I do think it's a shame that many online communities are often guilty of over-criticizing new products without giving them a chance.

The Leica product market is already a very niche and limited market---so the Leica community online CAN make or break a product IMO. I, for one, am very interested in their 0.95 options...and it's a shame there won't be many around for me to test out.
 
All the more reason for a company to know how to do business in the modern internet world. They obviously don't...too bad.
 
For a company like Konica it probably was based on profit and loss.

No one in the 'community' mentions Konica flange distaance anymore, and the lenses are well-liked.
 
richardhkirkando said:
Would you buy a new car from a company called "Bicycle Magic" that has only ever built wheelchairs?
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If the fuel economy is more than 9 MPG, takes fifty crank turns to start, and costs less than $900 --and hoping that the breaks, seatbelts and fuel tank aren't a catastrophe waiting to happen--, who wouldn't? ;)
 
I followed the SLR Magic lens story from the first mention of their 50 f 0.5 lens. If anything, 'M' platform users desire a wider choice of lens manufacturer options and there was plenty of interest for the lens. The sample lenses were very well received by users at a Steve Huff event, but problems became evident when some production lenses were delivered. The SLR defensiveness in the GET DPI forum exchanges was unimpressive and far from reassuring.

SLR Magic were not selling a cheap lens, they were selling an expensive, but less costly lens than Leica's Noctilux. They've come out of this badly because of their handling of the lens launch, production, and the customer dissatisfaction. It's got damn all to do with 'Leica community' indifference to their Asian base; the lenses would have been a sure seller to 'M' users had problems not been evident to their customers.

For those needing a good 'M'-fit low light lens performance, it's a bit of a shame that the project couldn't succeed.

............... Chris
 
I am sad that SLR Magic abandon the production of the 0.95 lens in 50mm and now also in 35mm and guess what they also abandon their project to make a 24/1.4. This just came out:
http://leicarumors.com/2012/11/03/slr-magic-hyperprime-35mm-f0-95-and-24mm-f1-4-lenses-for-leica-m-cancelled.aspx/#more-19022

Its like accusing our community of being responsible of their failure and saying "you gonna miss a lot because we had in our drawers the schema for those other amazing lenses that in any case you cannot afford you damn Leica users!"

Hold on!

I do not accept any one to attack us and our community.
We are leica camera+leica/voigtlander/zeiss lens or voigtlander+voigtlaner/leica/zeiss lens or zeiss+zeiss/leica/voigtlander..... and I am forgetting a few other combinations (apologies).

It is indeed very easy to attack the Leica user community and hide the truth. Knowing that most of those photographers are also using non Leica lenses on their camera I feel that SLR Magic argument to defend their decision is just lacking professionalism.

Its like being with an angry kid which keep on saying "its mine because its mine!"

Unless .... they are consistent with their regular change of commercial policy to their buyers ("yes your order can be cancelled and refunded" "sorry no, cannot refund, we have to deliver then you ship back and we will refund you minus XX% for restocking and other charges", "Sorry you paid via Paypal and paypal is charging us a lot in exchange rate and cross border fees (!!!) and whatyoumaycallit expenses, so cannot refund").

So let me ask SLR Magic who attacked me as part of the Leica user community if they are just lacking professionalism or they are just mad because they cannot make money on my back?
 
Boo hoo.

What a ridiculous attitude for a company to take. If MS Optical can produce a range of interesting lenses at decent prices without much issue....

The 35mm would have been interesting, had it happened, but ah well.
 
CrisR said:
Boo hoo.
The 35mm would have been interesting, had it happened, but ah well.
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A 35mm T/0.95 is happening, but won't have RF coupling for Leica M mount. You can probably use it on the new Leica M with the EVF or using LCD for live view :D
 
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