[Leica] Leica Plans

[leica at screengang.com (Didier Ludwig)]

>http://www.welt.de/welt_print/article1418788/Drei-Stufen-Plan_fuer_Leica.html
> 



Here's a very rough translation of the key statements

>Zur Zukunft der Leica-Modellpalette verr?t das Unternehmen wenig. 

The company does not say much about the future Leica model strategy

>So weit bisher bekannt, t?fteln die Entwickler vor allem an drei 
>Neuerungen. 

What is known so far (*) is that the engineers work on three different 
new products lines

>Zum einen soll es eine M9 Sucherkamera mit Vollformat-Sensor geben. 
>Das bringt h?chste Abbildungsqualit?t. 

A M9 camera with fullframe sensor is said to be in development, to deliver 
highest picture quality

>Zudem ist eine R10-Spiegelreflexkamera mit ?bergro?em Chip und Autofokus 
>in Arbeit - eine komplizierte Neuentwicklung bis hin zum Verschluss und zu 
>den Objektiven. 

Also planned is a R10 slr with oversized sensor (**) and autofocus - a 
completely new development including new mount and new lenses.

>Und schlie?lich d?rfte eine Art "kleine" digitale M auf den 
>Markt kommen. 

And finally a kind of "small" digital M might hit the market.

----------------------------------

My personal opinion: 

(*) 
"So weit bekannt" means, in the journalistic slang, nothing more than 
"we've heard some rumours"- so I would treat the whole information 
carefully, though there might be a grain of truth in it. I've heard similar 
rumours on german Leica forums before this article appeared, and to 
me it sounded more like a user's wishlist. In any case it is far away 
from being an official statement of Leica.

(**)
I believe this means bigger than fullframe

If these statements would be true, it might be the right direction for 
Leica. 

R: 
In the SLR sector, they can beat Canon/Nikon with a bigger sensor 
and lenses with even more resolution, only. Play the quality card. 
The question is if it's not too risky to spend so much money on 
such an ambitious project. 

M: 
The fullframe sensor for the next digital M is anyway a must. 
Zeiss/Cosina/Voigtlander will likely produce a fullframe rangefinder in 
the next two or three years, maybe Nikon, too.

Little M: 
this has been wished by many users. A compact digital CL. Might even 
have a fixed lens. Could sell like sliced bread.

Didier