Re: [Leica] My personal Photokina evaluation

["Joseph Codispoti" <joecodi@thegrid.net>]

Pascal,

It is reassuring that such a depressing but accurate and even prophetic
commentary has come from an avowed Leicaphile such as you and not a
vulnerable "newbie".

After spending two years assessing the allure of the Leica camera, I can say
that, for some, the camera should not change. After all, there are still
those who decry the demise of the Model A Ford and some who long for the
"good old days" of DOS 1.0.

Part of the problem with Leica, in my opinion, is that it DOES come from
Germany where the motto is: "Ve Vill Do It Our Vay".

I enjoy immensely the feel of the Leica M camera in my hands. Leica is the
pinnacle of industrial/design as regards Quality of construction and
mechanical function. Unfortunately it lacks many of the features that we
take for granted these days.

A lot has been written on the LUG about a vertical Copal shutter and the
discourse was mired in debating the inevitable 3 or 4 millimeters increase
in the height of the body.

Several people mentioned that they were bothered by the "noise" made by the
Contax G shutter (a mere whisper, and a pleasant one at that).

The Leica M should follow the Coca Cola example.  When an uproar ensued over
the change in formula, the company, cleverly,  announced the retention of
the "Classic" cola and continued in its quest for new tastes.

Leica should:
1.  Leave the M6 as is and call it the Classic. That should please the
anachronistic crowd.
2.  Continue research and improvement in the optical arena.
3.  Introduce a new model having the following    specifications:
4.  Manual focus, film load, and advance.
5.  Electronically controlled vertical Copal shutter with flash synch at
250.
6.  TTL metering for flash and ambient light.
7. Elimination of the confusing array of frames in the view finder (maybe a
manual way of dialing the desired frame).

I could not care less if Fuji or Kyosera designed it, or if it is made in
Japan, Canada or Portugal as long as the FEEL is pure Leica.

The marque would not suffer from these changes, on the contrary, it would
flourish.

As for the R system, well....... let Nikon design a body similar to the F3,
the best reflex body ever made.

Joseph Codispoti

- -----Original Message-----
From: Pascal <cyberdog@ibm.net>
To: Leica Users Group <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Date: Saturday, September 19, 1998 12:28 PM
Subject: [Leica] My personal Photokina evaluation


Folks:

First, I have not been to Photokina in person. I should have also
participated in the special LUG seminar, but an unexpected professional
duty came up at the last moment. This is really a pity because the
seminar was intended to give people an insight into future Leica
developments.
So what I am saying further on is completely based on what I have read in
magazines and have found on the Leica website.

Second, I feel a bit "left hungry", or underwhelmed, when I see the stuff
Leica has brought at Photokina. It could be summarized as "too little,
too late" in many ways.

OK, I have to be honest: the new Apo-Summicron-M 90/2.0 ASPH and the
Apo-Telyt-M 135/3.4 are excellent news and prove the M series are still a
very viable way to go, at least as far as optics are concerned. But the
TTL feature of the "new" M6 seems like more of a gimmick to me - just
referring to the different postings over the last days on this list -
when taking into account its limited usefulness at a speed of 1/50
maximum. And it seems the titanium version will be completely abandoned,
as no TTL version has been announced.
Have you seen the first Leica flash unit SF20? It looks really
underpowered. Was it really necessary for Leica to bring out a
flashlight, something they are not specialized in and where they do not
have any competitive advantage (better look at Metz and others for
price/performance features).

Especially the developments for the R series worry me. It's nice to
finally have a remote control and rechargeable battery for the winder,
only why did they have to come out 2 years after the R8 was brought to
market? Where is that motordrive everybody has been waiting for? It is
not much use to bring out such an essential tool only in the mid of a
camera's commercial life span. I guess the R8 will have a commercial life
of about 5 years, no more given the technological evolution, that is, of
course, if Leica decides to keep up with the competition.
This is one of those typical "too little, too late" situations, where you
can seriously debate on the question whether you can speak of a "system"
with everything that such thing implies.
The new Apo-Vario-Elmarit-R 35-70/2.8 ASPH is a major high-quality asset
for the R series, especially when combined with the excellent
Apo-Vario-Elmarit-R 70-180/2.8 - the King of Lenses IMHO -, but why did
it have to weigh over 1 kg and have a length of 11 cm compared to the
less than 700 gr and 4 cm less for the Nikkor 35-70 AF D? I am sure
mechanical and optical quality will be top, but did it really have to be
that "monstruous" for such a "banal" focal length?

One area which shines, are the new Pradovit projectors. They seem to be
an excellent thing, especially for people who give demonstrations and so
on.

In the viewing department, I do not really see where the competitive
advantage of Leica is in the field of slide loupes/magnifying glass. The
new 5x Leica loupe will be great, but there are already the excellent
loupes of Schneider, Rodenstock,... on the market.

Another great area is the digital S1 series for studio use. But as far as
the Leica Digilux is concerned, although it will have a great quality, it
is basically only a rebadged Fuji MX-700 consumer digital camera (with
the exception of the slightly different finish). Once again, the
question: where is the added value?
One of the major mottos of the company is "concentration on essentials".
Was it necessary to sell a rebadged Fuji camera under the Leica name, for
other reasons that to be able to say that there is a consumer level
digital camera in the catalogue?

Do not misunderstand me: it is not my wish to bash Leica! I have invested
heavily in R and M equipment over the last year or so, and I certainly
love my R8. I know that many of their recent optics are among the world's
best that money can buy for the 35mm film format. It gives a real
comfortable feeling to own such "pieces of jewellery".

But somehow, I feel a bit disappointed...
Where is the roadmap for future R developments? The three things I would
personally like to see within the first coming year are:
- - the R8 motordrive;
- - a high-speed wideangle zoom lens like an 19-35/2.8 ASPH (with an
optical quality equal to the Leica fixed lenses of that range);
- - an upgrade to the R8 (that can be performed by an adjustment on
existing bodies) so that the camera is capable of electronically-aided
manual focusing. That should not be a major problem, given the fact that
all current R lenses have a ROM contact strip. This would, at least for
me, be enough not to make me envious of autofocus capability.

And as I am hearing from an undisclosed source about serious internal
problems at Leica Solms, coupled with substantial operating losses, we
might expect something to happen in the not too-far-off future. I guess
we might see Kyocera stepping in, and a scenario à la Contax. It's not
something I would hope for, as I rather like the fact that Leica is still
European-owned, and would hate to pay those steep prices for something
that is Japanese. But on the other hand, it might bring us closer to the
day when the R will have some form of electronically-aided manual
focusing or even full autofocus (although this will be difficult without
rendering our investments in R lenses obsolete, so Leica would have to go
the Contax AX way).

And now, I put on my "flame-proof" vest and hide for a while...
;-)

Pascal
Belgium

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