Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2014/03/06

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

Subject: [Leica] Leila's April 24th announcement - place your bets!
From: mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner)
Date: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 01:54:45 -0500

Leica may not as you say Geoff compete with the Sony as it will be stealing
sales from its M line. And a full frame compact more the size of a Barnack
than a metal munching M5 is going to make final images which would compete
with it.  
A bad business decision for Leica unless  sold them for seven grand usd to
match the M's.. Yet if they did that they could actually sell. As people
might even pay more money for a non slipped disk in their neck and feel they
were getting off easy paying the same.

And yes its mini 4/3's as non mini 4/3's  2x crop cameras were all bigger
than 1.5 crop cameras. And as dumb as the consumer market maybe being sold
megapixels you cant fool all of the people all of the time.
So not its not a smaller format in a bigger camera.
Its just an unnecessarily small format.
1.5 crop cameras all already criticized as too small in the hands. There's
not practical need for a smaller sensor as if that's  going to make for a
smaller camera body. Nobodies asking for cmares to fit in their jeans pocket
and if they did....?

Sony's and other camera companies compact full frame compacts will steal
money from M sales as there will be countless articles in  magazines
demonstrating that excellent imagery came be elegantly made with cameras far
smaller, lighter and cheaper than the seven grand M240.
Leica may just be interested in recouping some of that money with its own
product. Instead of just letting Sony and the other companies have it all in
a feeding frenzy.

Leica M6 sales were hurt by the elegant 35mm compacts made by Contax, Nikon
and Rollie. And Minox. And by I forgot.


On 3/7/14 1:32 AM, "Geoff Hopkinson" <hopsternew at gmail.com> wrote:

> Mark, not quite the full story.
> Leica Camera did market a version of a Panasonic four thirds camera for a
> period. Presumably it was not sufficiently successful and it was
> discontinued.
> Four thirds itself is displaced by the micro four thirds standard now in
> any case.
> Of course they still offer versions of some Panasonic compacts in their
> range. I've shot a few hundred frames each with Micro Four Thirds cameras
> from Olympus and Panasonic and they do a very good job. They offer some
> unique advantages but are not intended to compete directly with full frame
> for some applications.
> I don't believe that Leica is intending, nor needs to compete with that
> Sony though.
> It's a bit of a trap to look at cameras just from an M perspective, which
> seems to come up in the on-line Leica groups a bit. Everyone wants a
> smaller, cheaper (add a list of desired features) vehicle for their lenses
> while retaining the M cachet maybe! Leica remains a small niche in the
> scheme of things, however they have done better and better from the M9
> especially, forward. Guess which company is doing better in their market
> niche, Leica Camera or Sony? On impressions Fujifilm and Olympus are closer
> competitors with Sony?
> 
> 
> Cheers
> Geoff
> http://www.pbase.com/hoppyman
> 
> 
> On 7 March 2014 16:16, Mark Rabiner <mark at rabinergroup.com> wrote:
> 
>> "bringing Leica back to the 4/3." kinda sounds like Leica used to make a
>> 4/3's camera, and now its coming back home.. Not the case. It's made a
>> couple of 4/3's lenes for other companies cameras.
>> Leica now is making compact 1.5 crop cameras. If there is a reason why it
>> should go 4/3's as if its a fad it has a prerogative to join in on I'd 
>> like
>> to know what it is. As is its a company whose mission has always been
>> making
>> a quality product and senselessly cutting its compact format in half does
>> not add up.
>> Eyes are 0n Leica now to come out with its answer to the Sony RX1 full
>> frame
>> compact. Not stupidly dumb itself down.
>> 
>> 
>> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information




-- 
Mark William Rabiner
Photographer
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/lugalrabs/




Replies: Reply from richard at richardmanphoto.com (Richard Man) ([Leica] Leila's April 24th announcement - place your bets!)
In reply to: Message from hopsternew at gmail.com (Geoff Hopkinson) ([Leica] Leila's April 24th announcement - place your bets!)