Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/10/17

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Subject: [Leica] RE:
From: "B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 1999 16:11:04 -0000

> The last sentiment about hoping that Konica will be better
> than these other opportunists is unsettling. If they do truly make a
> much better camera than other previous and present 'Leica
> copies' we are in real danger of seeing the r/f camera market leave
> Leica high and dry. It's unlikely of course, in the history
> of the last 75 years or so the remarkable thing is that Leica
> has stayed at
> the top through quality, lets hope it stays there.
>
> Jem
> =================
>
Jem - Hardly the first time I've overstated my case..:-)

However...I really do disagree with your last statement...Think about
it...First came Leica, then came Contax, then Nikon and Canon...all exellent
rangefinders - particularly the Nikons and Contaxes...and yet Leica not only
lived on, it was the only one of the four to survive. I really do hope the
Konica is a really piece of quality rangefinder work because I am convinced
that that will both expand the base of rangefinder users, and push Leica
forward...I think there is room for both a mechanical rangefinder - the M6 -
and one or more rangefinders with modern bells and whistles, either the
Konica alone, or the Konica and an M7...

(And while I am certainly impressed that a tiny manufacturer tried to make a
new screw-mount rangefinder, given your description of its short comings...I
don't know how exagerated my response was...Similarlly, it isn't even really
fair to describe the "Voightlander" body as a rangefinder, given that it
doesn't have one. It's a box with a shutter.)

Best,

B. D.