Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/10/18

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Subject: RE: [Leica] RE:
From: Jem Kime <jem.kime@cwcom.net>
Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999 22:57:24 +0100

B.D.
	I'm with you in part on your thoughts on the final para. though I'd have 
to disagree about which were the better cameras, to my mind Canon had much 
better design than Nikon. That dreadful focusing wheel on the Nikon which 
could barely move the lenses while Canon developed revolving prism 
viewfinders and integral parralax compensation built into the accessory 
shoe, not to mention a built in lightmeter 10 years ahead of Leica. But no 
matter.
	Leica lived on because they could not afford to lose the r/f market, both 
Nikon and Canon could see plainly that the new market for SLRs was vast in 
comparison to the amount of R/F cameras they were then selling, so they 
left the market to concentrate on making big bucks.	
	That Konica should inspire Leica to greater heights I fully concur. That 
the market could wish for a bells and whistles alternative to the Leica I 
agree also, and for that matter, the Voigtlander and the Yasuhara, no 
matter what ultimate description is laid at their door, are in the same 
boat. They will end up inspiring the use of a rangefinder type camera (and 
yes, I appreciate the current Bessa-L is only a viewfinder camera)  which 
will ultimately lead photographers on a route to Leica, providing they 
remain pre-eminent and justified of their leading position.
	But the wish that Konica could make a better camera than Leica might be a 
little too far for me to come along with.

Jem
and thanks for the smiley ;-)

- -----Original Message-----
From:	B. D. Colen [SMTP:bdcolen@earthlink.net]
>
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.