Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/10/12
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I spent some more time with the Leica microscope installer. Now remember, this guy has over 30 yrs with Leitz in the microscopy division. He didn't have more info on the digital SLR (yes SLR), but from what he hears at Wetzlar, a good fraction of the Leica desigenrs think that digital cameras are the way to go. Not that I agree with him, but his feeling is that the design possibilities in 35mm cameras have been pretty much exhausted and that the innovative and creative aspects of Leica design will be invested in digital. Antoehr thing that he passed on was the terrible morale in Leica camera workers. The workers know that Leica needs invigorating and that if something truly innovative doesn't happen soon, the company is finsihed as a camera manufacturer. Not that he is happy about the route that Leica microsystems has taken: third world manufacturing, but he knows that something needs to be done. He speaks with pride of the "old days", meaning in the sixties when the M3 was taking the world by storm and the 50 f2 Summicron was first introduced. You should see his eyes light up with joy when he talks about the 50 Summicron. When I told him that was the lens that I used, he was proud as a new daddy. He even offered to give (give!) me some of his old 39mm Leitz filters from the days when he had an M4 (employees got discounts, but he traded his in for an R4). He tells me "I haven't used them in twenty years, soemone shoudl use them." He longs for the day when Leica stood for not only mechanical excellence and optical excellence but technical innovation as well. JOnathan Lee Jonathan Lee