Surely the current sales success of the M9 must have Zeiss and Cosina's attention?

If I were running Carl Zeiss, I would be very cautious about launching a new product in the midst of an economic downturn. Although there's always a market for a premium market, there's an even larger market when the global economy isn't in the tank. And you have the added benefit of picking up customers in a good economy who otherwise would be hard pressed to purchase one in the current economy. That could mean the difference between profit and loss. And the companies are in it for profit.
 
The day will come when a third party manufacturer will make that cheap digital RF. Maybe in 5 years time...
 
P. Lynn Miller said:
Had a quick look at the Sony NEX... definitely a solid candidate for a parts donor. If a full-frame is even double the price... I will take a long look at turning one into a digital back for one of my Nikon F's.
Click to expand...

I have a small collection of "transparent shell" and close up images of the Sony NEX.

The simplest way to make it a Leica-like camera is to use a lens adapter (already announced by one maker, see http://dpreview.com/news/1006/10061502rayqualsonynexadapter.asp) to mount your favourite Leica/Nikon lenses, affix a hot shoe up top (hot shoe brackets are widely available) emulating the screw-post mount Sony use for flash and VF...for mounting glass VF of any make; and zone focus.

[A Leica M lens adapter is essentially a 10mm tubular shim, as an u4/3 adapter is an 8mm shim...including mounts at both ends.]

Alternatively, one can also simply make a plastic/metal clam shell over the NEX body for a better grip and hardware mounting, and use Sony/Zeiss lenses for auto focusing... I did a CAD mock-up already.

One "transparent shell" image published indicates the sensor/cpu guts are not much larger than the lens mount in dimension. Simple photogrammetry tells me a 50 x 50 x 10mm box would contain the works. The shutter, battery, LCD and SD connections are all fly-by-wire.
 
ZeissFan said:
If I were running Carl Zeiss, I would be very cautious about launching a new product in the midst of an economic downturn. Although there's always a market for a premium market, there's an even larger market when the global economy isn't in the tank. And you have the added benefit of picking up customers in a good economy who otherwise would be hard pressed to purchase one in the current economy. That could mean the difference between profit and loss. And the companies are in it for profit.
Click to expand...

The lead time in product development is years. That explains why new products are still coming onto market in the current economic down turn.

Zeiss gross $3.5 billion in 2009, and had announced "no lay off" to all employees at least for the next year... [I posted that news release long ago and quoting from memory here.]

The key decision point for me...if I work for Zeiss...is: did we mean business developing all those ZM lenses and made an Ikon body, or not?

Now is the time to make the digital RF move because Leica has established:
  • Customers do not demand auto-focus anti-vibration lenses.
  • Customers only want FF without vignette 'ing...our lenses are retro-focus type, no?
  • Sony, our partner in good standing, has a 24Mp FF sensor.
  • CV, our OEM manufacturer, has accrued sufficient experience on Epson's back.
  • Kobayashi-San openly said he didn't like digital...right?
  • Leica's M9 and Epson's R-D1 brackets a comfortable pricing range.
  • Can we squeeze in anti-shake-in-body as a trump card?
So, can we do all that? Talk to the DMC and RMK-DX boys [in the Z/I division]!
 
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