Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/11/24

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Subject: Re: Leicaflex vs Nikon F
From: Marc James Small <msmall@roanoke.infi.net>
Date: Mon, 24 Nov 1997 13:37:02 -0500

At 09:50 PM 11/23/97 -0800, Stephen Gandy wrote:
>
>With all due respect, these statements simply are not true.  (The rest
snipped)

Well, we're probably quibbling over "technical innovations" as few of what
Mr Gandy lists are what I was speaking of.  By "technical innovations", I
was speaking of things like "the first pentaprism SLR" (Contax S,
Rectaflex, or Alpa Prisma Reflex)) or "first instant-return mirror"
(arguably either the Alpa IV or the Asahiflex IIb) and the like, not who
combined these into a single package or who made it "better".  The
Contarex, for instance, offered many of the same features and a few not
offered by the Nikon, but at a somewhat higher price.

Rudy Lea, in his REGISTER OF 35mm SINGLE LENS REFLEX CAMERAS only credits
the Nikon F with the innovations of the battery-powered motor drive and the
PC lens.

By the way, the first 35mm multi-focus production lens was the Zoomar,
built by Heinz Kilfitt under license from Frank Back in a variety of
mounts, most notably Voigtlander Bessamatic (1959), Exakta, and M42.

I am not denigrating Nikon in any way but its success hinged not so much on
its technical offerings as on the solid and superb support provided to
professional photographers by Erenreich and his staff.  A pro doing a shoot
in Backofthebeyond, Montana, whose Nikon broke on a Saturday morning would
almost certainly have a replacement in a couple of hours:  call Leica or
Zeiss Ikon and they would simply tell you to send the old one in for
service.  The difference was night and day, and professionals flocked to
Nikon in droves, as the solid construction and sterling service combined to
give them a trustworthy tool.

Marc


msmall@roanoke.infi.net  FAX:  +540/343-7315
Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!