When will we get a new Leica M?

frankly I dont see leica doing anything else with their film line. I dont even know what they could do, if they added more features people would start complaining, if they made a remake of the m3 people would complain that it was too limited...no I think the leica line is fine, what they really need to do is follow zeiss and make lenses for other platforms
 
KM-25 said:
I'm willing to bet that the current stable of MP's and M7's are the last film cameras Leica will make.

I could be wrong but that is my suspicion.
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KM-25,

I think you are right. The future of their film bodies is entirely driven by demand. With the price of the MP and M7 listed at $3,700 it almost insures a drop in demand. I think Leica will still offer these two bodies and if sales drop off too much Leica will offer them exclusively through their special order program.

I hope I'm wrong on this....

Bob
 
varjag said:
The only remote possibility I see is a variation of M7 with Copal shutter from M8. If only to maintain a single type of electronic shutter.
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An electronic shutter for a M Leica is no longer a M-Leica!

The M8 has the shutter of the R8/R9. The M8 makes much more noise than the mechanical Leica M (for instance the M4, M6, MP)!

The mechanical shutter and the distant meter are the 'mystery' of the M-Leica:angel:
 
I just hope that Leica do not discontinue making film cameras altogether, at least not until I have saved enough money to buy one.:D
 
aizan said:
what's a distant meter?

and icyf, the m7 has an electronic shutter...the end has already past. :p
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The M7 has a mechanical shutter with an electronic drive! The release button works on a electronic impulse!

'The distant meter' is the way you can focus with the lens as you can see in the viewfinder!
 
I read somewhere that a Leica higher up had said the film line was done- no more development to be done. But cannot for the life of me find this again.

I am very happy with the M7, and find the MP a bit less suited to my working- it is strictly a handling thing- the shutter speed dial is just too small for me. The fully mechanical aspect is nice- but the aperture priority is nicer in my hand.
 
Well it is pretty clear that digital is where the growth potential is for the company. Considering its less-than-solid financial footing, it would make very little sense for Leica to be spending its R&D money on the film line.

I do wonder how the company is doing in terms of recouping its investment on the M8. We can't just look at the camera itself, but also have to consider the sales of the lenses related to its M8.
I finally gave up last week after spending two months on a waiting list for one of the 28 elmarits. Picked up a CV lens for now, instead.

As we all know, quite of a few of Leica's lenses are very tough to find - without a lot of searching. I suspect the company isn't sure that this level of demand is sustainable. Otherwise, I hope they are working hard on ramping up production. As it is, they risk seeing more potential customers look to Zeiss and Voigtlander for their lens needs.

I would imagine there are a lot of heated discussions taking place in Solms. There is no way they are enjoying seeing so many people waiting so long for lenses. Those are revenue dollars they would love to have now.
 
I would guess we'll get another film M about the same time Nikon releases the F7... :(


sepiareverb said:
I read somewhere that a Leica higher up had said the film line was done- no more development to be done. But cannot for the life of me find this again.

I am very happy with the M7, and find the MP a bit less suited to my working- it is strictly a handling thing- the shutter speed dial is just too small for me. The fully mechanical aspect is nice- but the aperture priority is nicer in my hand.
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PetarDima said:
Hard times for LEICA ... yes, RF story begins with that name, but M8 is the worse
camera they ever had :mad: - compared to Canon 5D( both cameras are digital ),
you can have 2 5D's for one M8 - in the same time photos from Canon are at least 2 times better - I'm talking about how photo from camera looks - not about two worlds - RFs & DSLRs. In the same time, they must find their place in era of digital - if they don't, I'm afraid - that will be the end of Leica story.
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And you can get 9 Canon EOS 30V QD for one MP or M7.
 
I can't help myself, I can't think of anything which can be changed on a film M.
A hinged back and vertical shutter? Impossible!
 
Never. All that can be done with M series has been done. Perfection.

R10 will be digi only with autofocus glass and ability to retrofit older R glass.

Entry level film M or R will never happen.
 
if i could design the last film leica m, it would have a motor wind that fits in the space the back door takes up, a metal blade shutter, a battery compartment on the bottom where it belongs, magnesium covers with flat black epoxy, short top plate, and large shutter speed dial. sort of like a hexar rf with leica design.
 
aizan said:
if i could design the last film leica m, it would have a motor wind that fits in the space the back door takes up, a metal blade shutter, a battery compartment on the bottom where it belongs, magnesium covers with flat black epoxy, short top plate, and large shutter speed dial. sort of like a hexar rf with leica design.
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Thats what I was about to say - just get a Hexar RF. Problem solved!
 
Given that even on RFF where a number of diehard Leica fans are in the audience there is apparently hardly anyone who would actually buy a new film M, I don't see any economic motivation for Leica to produce one. Also the R&D for the next digital body will be expensive enough that also spending millions on R&D for an analog body that large parts of the userbase will reject is just not an option. In the M line it will be special-edition MPs for collectors for the foreseeable future, and possibly new lenses for some time.

Philipp
 
What has Leica done for us these few year? Several obscene price increases. Uber expensive Noctilux. A la Carte only ($$$) .85x and .58x bodies. Meanwhile Cosina comes out with da bomb - R4a to use 21mm lenses with no external finder. No one really "need" one of those but if there was a need I doubt Leica would bother making one give potentially low sales. Further progress will be for digital only whether lenses or bodies.
 
It's a problem for a company when the product they produced is so well made that the used market of 50 year old (and older) product eats into their new product sales. But that's what makes Leica and similar high quality camera companys (Contax, Canon, Nikon, Rollei, Hasselblad, etc.) special.
 
I don't think tere will be another Leica film M either. As some people have said, it will make little sense to invest in film cameras for a small group of people, when they have an almost perfect set of film cameras right now: M7 and MP. It's hard to develop further beyond that. The MP is the perfect mechanical camera, and if you want aperture priority and electric/mechanical shutter, you have the M7. Apart from that, the M design hasn't changed that much from the M3 to the M6, comparing with the advance of other brands. A Nikon F of the first times is very different from a F6.
What I don't want Leica to do is to drop their film line. I hope they continue to produce the M7 and MP.

The big money is going to be spent in digital M, the R10 and lens desgin, I think.
 
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