[Leica] M8 and the Future

[wooderson at gmail.com (Matt Powell)]

On 10/25/06, Steve Unsworth <lug@steveunsworth.co.uk> wrote:
> When I bought my M6 I could have bought a Canon SLR with lens for
> about a third of the price - probably less. The Canon usd exactly the
> same film as the Leica. So why did I spend all that money on a
> rangefinder rather than an SLR. Well, the main reason was because it
> was a rangefinder rather than an SLR. That was the case in film days
> and it's the same in the digital age.
>
> Steve

I'm not saying that the M8 will flop, that no one will buy it, or that
it's even a camera I wouldn't like to own. I'm saying that it won't
change Leica's stars.

Even in the M6 days, you were party of a tiny minority, right? 1 Leica
sold for every 100 good Canon bodies. That's no different today - a
Leica M8 is simply too expensive to ignite any kind of renaissance for
the company. There just aren't that many people who can afford to pay
$4800+tax for a single body.

Those few with the disposable income and need or desire to buy one
will, and everyone else will buy a Canon/Nikon dSLR or wait for the
next Cosina digital rangefinder at a price competitive with dSLRs.

-- 
MP
wooderson@gmail.com