Will there be a R5 in Cosina's future?

[bwcolor]

CV needs to stay in business and they seem to do rather nicely with their lenses, so they really don't need to produce yet another camera. Pretty much the same story for Zeiss.

I can't see Zeiss making another Ikon in that the first was a bomb ( I have two, so it wasn't my fault), but CV is another story. I don't think they would make another film camera based on a purely business viewpoint. They might venture into digital based on the market, but they really don't need to do either, so I suspect that all depends on the Kobayashi's personal passion for photography, or some business opportunity such as Zeiss approaching Cosina to build a digital Contax camera. None of this precludes incremental improvements in current models.

 

[PetarDima]

1. quiet shutter
2. long(ER) EBL
but ... I think it will never happen. why? Is it financially justified for Mr.K?
He could made this improvements on the start of BESSA project. This years Photokina star is - like Tom A. already said - fujifilm - one medium format rangefinder ( with lens equivalent to 28mm in 35mm world ) + one dream come true camera - digital Hexar AF

 

[nome_alice]

the next bessa should be a zeiss ikon rebadged as a bessa at bessa price 😉

 

[bwcolor]

the next bessa should be a zeiss ikon rebadged as a bessa at bessa price 😉

The U.S. is beginning to suffer from the European syndrome, where people rely upon the government for everything and expect someone else to pay for their every need. Some on this board expect the same from camera companies. These companies can't print money like the U.S. government does. They can't stay in business by selling something at the lowest price asked for by the consumer. On the other hand, with printing money comes the devaluation of the currency and at least in the U.S. we can expect all cameras to be markedly more expensive a few years out.... inflation.. Gold, in terms of U.S. dollars.. just hit another record high today.

 

[richardhkirkando]

The U.S. is beginning to suffer from the European syndrome, where people rely upon the government for everything and expect someone else to pay for their every need. Some on this board expect the same from camera companies. These companies can't print money like the U.S. government does. They can't stay in business by selling something at the lowest price asked for by the consumer. On the other hand, with printing money comes the devaluation of the currency and at least in the U.S. we can expect all cameras to be markedly more expensive a few years out.... inflation.. Gold, in terms of U.S. dollars.. just hit another record high today.

I think he was joking dude

 

[bwcolor]

Yes, you are right, dude.

 

[nome_alice]

The U.S. is beginning to suffer from the European syndrome, where people rely upon the government for everything and expect someone else to pay for their every need. Some on this board expect the same from camera companies. These companies can't print money like the U.S. government does. They can't stay in business by selling something at the lowest price asked for by the consumer. On the other hand, with printing money comes the devaluation of the currency and at least in the U.S. we can expect all cameras to be markedly more expensive a few years out.... inflation.. Gold, in terms of U.S. dollars.. just hit another record high today.

don't know too much about the troubles in the US, but the Aussie Dollar is going great guns!

 

[wgerrard]

Since I was away, I'll bump this now that I've read it:

I don't expect much of anything new in the way of RF's from Cosina. As others have said, it would be nice if they addressed some apparent reliability issues and extended the EBL. The former might not be worth the effort, and the latter would seem to require a new body design.

A full-frame digital from Cosina at anywhere near Cosina prices seems sheer fantasy if/until sensor prices plummet. A small sensor camera like the RD-1 would be more realistic, after whatever deal they have with Epson expires. However, we should assume Cosina has a very good idea how many RD-1's Epson has sold. That fact may not encourage them.

I would not be surprised to see one or more models of the R camera eliminated, and a new model released with equivalent frameline coverage.

 

[lilmsmaggie]

A full-frame digital from Cosina at anywhere near Cosina prices seems sheer fantasy if/until sensor prices plummet. A small sensor camera like the RD-1 would be more realistic, after whatever deal they have with Epson expires. However, we should assume Cosina has a very good idea how many RD-1's Epson has sold. That fact may not encourage them.

I would not be surprised to see one or more models of the R camera eliminated, and a new model released with equivalent frameline coverage.

Isn't it interesting how our personal biases and perceptions influence an original idea, story, concept, or in this case: "question."

Not sure how it got this far but I know I never mentioned or hinted at a "digital" anything. 🙂

 

[wgerrard]

Isn't it interesting how our personal biases and perceptions influence an original idea, story, concept, or in this case: "question."

Not sure how it got this far but I know I never mentioned or hinted at a "digital" anything. 🙂

I don't think you need to resort to "personal biases and perceptions" to wonder if the next model to come from one of the very few remaining film camera makers might be a digital product. Seems a pretty obvious thing to me. You did not, after all, constrain your question to analog cameras.

There is, though, a tendency when these questions are asked for people to equate what they want with what some company should make and sell. E.g., the ongoing lust for an M9 at a quarter of the price. Regardless of what it may actually cost to build an M9 (and I strongly doubt it's a quarter of the selling price), Leica has decided its profits will be maximized by setting the price where it is. Expecting them to adjust that price for any reason other than to boost or maintain those profits is naive.

As I said, I don't think the Bessa R line is going to go much of anywhere, with the exceptions I suggested. I do expect to see a fair amount of turnover in the lenses, though, with prices rising. (I would be curious to know how many new CV lenses are sold to Bessa owners and how many to Leica owners. An awareness of that has to impact Cosina's decisions.)

 

[MaxElmar]

(Zeiss Ikon RF) - (Zeiss Ikon) = R5 Bessa = plausible

R5 Bessa + APS-C sensor = way cool = but not very likely

 

[lilmsmaggie]

Wgerrard, Don't take it personally. Although, I quoted you, you weren't being singled out. Others have mentioned the prospect, or desire for a digital Bessa. It was just an observation.

And no, I didn't limit or constrain the possibilities or plausibility. I left that to the individual contributor to comment or speculate irrespective of how naive or fanciful those comments or speculation may be.

 

[heatherselkie]

I'd like to see an R5 with the same framelines as the M6 and subsequent leica m's. 28-135 or something. One has to choose if they want wide angles, long lenses or something in between and have to use external viewfinders for the rest. So one ends up having two or three bessas. I might have five bikes, but I don't know how many cameras I have to have.
Also the shutter is loud and something could be done about that maybe? I didn't think it was a problem and didn't understand why people complained about it, but I had 2 bears charge at me because they heard the shutter a few weeks ago. Normally the bear family would freak out and runaway when they heard the bessa shutter.
So, now I understand the complaint.

 

[Leigh Youdale]

I think we can sort this out fairly easily. Little Miss Maggie is pretty feisty for someone who only has 11/12 posts. And Heather has a bear problem.
Send young Maggie to deal with the bears. Voila! 🙂

 

[wgerrard]

Are there still bears in Germany? If so, maybe there are stealth squads of Leica specialists making sure their shutters aren't loud enough to really annoy bears.

"So quiet the bears don't mind." I hereby assign copyright and all my intellectual property rights in that to Leica.

 

[Tompas]

Are there still bears in Germany?(...)

No. Wolves are re-immigrating from the east, though.

So I'd suggest: "You'll rather hear the grass grow!"

(But in fact this whole low shutter noise thing is waaay overrated, I think.)

 

[elmer3.5]

New body

New body

Hi, i would like to see some bear and a voigt new body smaller (not so tall), with the ae lock button integrated with shutter release one and longer RF base, same price thou.🙂

Bye

 

[c.poulton]

Resurrecting a very old thread, I do wonder what direction Cosina are moving into and whether they will eventually discontinue manufacturing products for the Leica M mount and their own range of rangefinder cameras? It does appear with the slow drip drip discontinuation of M mount & rangefinder product lines that the company is shifting focus to more profitable Nikon and Canon lens lines for micro 4/3rd cameras. Although it's good news whenever they release a new M mount lens, such as the 15mm Super Wide Heliar III.

 

[noimmunity]

Resurrecting a very old thread, I do wonder what direction Cosina are moving into and whether they will eventually discontinue manufacturing products for the Leica M mount and their own range of rangefinder cameras? It does appear with the slow drip drip discontinuation of M mount & rangefinder product lines that the company is shifting focus to more profitable Nikon and Canon lens lines for micro 4/3rd cameras. Although it's good news whenever they release a new M mount lens, such as the 15mm Super Wide Heliar III.

Many of the new M mount lenses, such as the v3 Heliar, have taken into consideration the fact that a whole lot of users will be using them on digital, not film, and quite probably on a non-M platform as much as an M one.

Zeiss ZM lenses manufactured by Cosina that were really optimized for film, such as the 21 C Biogon, have been discontinued. I expect the same to happen across the Cosina Voigtländer line as well.

Film camera body production has been severely cut back, and a number of other related cut backs are evident.

But it looks to me like M mount lens sales are strong enough to justify the release of new models.

Of course, if there is increasing demand for film-related products, Cosina could always choose to re-tool production to take advantage of that demand. But I don't see Cosina investing any more R&D, as they used to, to actively create that kind of demand in the market.

 

[HHPhoto]

Resurrecting a very old thread, I do wonder what direction Cosina are moving into and whether they will eventually discontinue manufacturing products for the Leica M mount and their own range of rangefinder cameras?

I don't think so, because
- last year at Photokina Voigtländer said that they are seeing new interest for their film cameras especially from young photographers
- Leica said at Photokina that their film M cameras are already slightly increasing in sales, and they expect that to continue in the next years
- film is currently finding "a bottom", some film products already have increasing sales. CV could really benefit from a film revival in the next years.

Cheers, Jan