Why there won't be a full-frame M8 any time soon

[Tuolumne]

My analysis:

There is a business case for Leica not to make a full-frame sensor. The 1.33x crop factor sensor requires new, shorter focal length lenses to give the same field of view as the older lenses designed for 35mm film. Leica is introducing a whole slew of these new lenses at astonishingly high prices. They are also designs that have never been seen before, such as very fast and very wide lenses, 21mm @f1.4. One of Leica's big problems is the cannibalization of its sales by its own older equipment, some of it 50+ years old that is still perfectly usable on its cameras. But there are no such older lenses that can be used on the digital M8. Hence, if buyers want them they have to get them new from Leica - they can't turn to the used market to buy them cheaper there. For this reason alone, I believe that it will be a long time before Leica introduces a full frame M8 successor. It servers its business interests better to have the 1.33x crop factor M8 and make more money selling lenses than the one time charge for a full frame camera body that would rekindle the cannibalization of its new lenses by old.

/T

 

[jackal2513]

if they announced a FF M9 tomorrow,

the day after they would make a shed load of sales and a shed load of profit



the 8.2 on the other hand, won't make them much at all imo

 

[tomasis]

I dont believe that crap! remember leica did even needed angled microlenses even at cropped sensor. it is special customized sensor from kodak. It is not anything else you can put simply as in DSLR cameras when whole set of same microlenses is produced in sensor/wafer.

 

[infrequent]

well they could always offer a VF mag for wider lenses like the CV R4x when they have a full-frame sensor.

 

[Gary Sandhu]

Nikon did it when they introduced the D700 and D3. The DX lenses for the APS sensor still sell along wiith new lenses for FX (full frame). I think it's technical difficulties as Leica tells us. I had an R-D1 and the edge performance was poorer than the M8, even though the crop was larger.