Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/09/20
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Pascal wrote : 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 w= e might see Kyocera stepping in, and a scenario =E0 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 th= at 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 ou= r 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 ####################### Reply : I don't see Kyocera buy a new "dancer". In french, une "danseuse" (=3Ddancer) is a company which lost money but which is nevertheless bough= t by another company for an extra-financial reason : sentimental, familial, political, etc. Yashica was in bankrupcy when Kyocera bought it in 1983. But Leica is not a japanese company ; Leica belongs to a swiss holding. Dominique BTW : Why "une danseuse" ? Because around 1900, french politicians in Paris, far from their wives, had love affairs with "danseuses de french can-can". We had had even a President of the french Republic, Felix Faure= , who died on a sofa in the arms of a "danseuse".Oh-la-la!=20