RE: [Leica] Herr Cohn und Drang

[Godfrey DiGiorgi <ramarren@bayarea.net>]

>Another way to look at this issue is, in twenty years, would you still be
>interested in buying and using a Leica M6?  Ask the same question about a
>Nikon F5 or Canon EOS1n or Minolta 9, and you will realize that there is no
>overriding concern for Leica to come out with newer models such as an M7.

Well, 20 years have passed and I still love using my Nikon F3. Curiously 
enough, it's still in production too. I don't expect that the F5 will be 
in production for quite that long (Nikon's usual plan is to do major 
updates of its top line camera every 10 years, the F4 to F5 transition 
was faster than that to keep pace with the incredible escalation of 
camera technology), but it's a very desireable, professional instrument,  
metal construction, and examples should easily be continuing to serve in 
20+ years.

>In case this isn't clear, are there people still looking for Nikon F4 or
>Canon EOS1 (not n) or Minolta 9xi?  Not too many, I would think.  These
>companys need to come out with new models every 5-10 years to survive.
>Leica doesn't.  

I'm only familiar with the Nikon System in this regard, but these 
statements don't really make much sense. 

While it's certainly true the companies like Nikon must produce new 
models to stay on top of the pack, it's also true that there are more 
Nikon F cameras of all 5 generations still in professional hands doing 
paying work than nearly anything else in the 35mm field. There is still a 
very healthy market for Fs, F2s, F3s, F4s even though the F5 is the 
current top line pro camera. There's also a very healthy market for the 
simple, mechanical FM2n, which has been in continuous series production 
since 1977 (FM->FM2->FM2n) and is the most popular all mechanically timed 
35mm SLR camera in use with professional photographers today. Perhaps not 
the best, or the ultimate, or whatever, but definitely the most popular.

Leica certainly needs to continue to innovate and advance the state of 
the art that they provide. They just don't necessarily have to 
concentrate on the M series rangefinder cameras as their primary bread 
and butter. Were it not for Leica's continued innovation in optical 
design and top notch build qualities, they'd have shuttered the doors 
long ago.

The business of photography is different from what most of us (not all) 
are engaged in here. I love my new M6 ... it's a superb camera and I 
intend to be using it well past the next 20 years. But the Leica M's 
utility to the professional photographer's world is as a niche camera for 
a rather specialized kind of photography. The SLR won the battle for 
versatility and professional acceptance 40 years ago: Leica has a 
marvelous SLR lens line but has kept up in the development of SLR bodies 
at all. Rangefinders have been smaller and smaller parts of the 
professional sphere ever since the SLR takeover. So, where there is 
profit and advancement in the marketplace that Leica could excel in is in 
'not quite so high end' cameras like the Minilux, Minilux zoom, ZX2, etc. 
And digital cameras ... a market just getting rolling onto its feet. 
These are the fastest growing places to make money in the camera 
business. And it is a question of money, not class, quality, history or 
tradition.

So to answer the question at the top of the page: Yes, *I* will likely 
still be interested in buying and using a Leica M in twenty years, 
presuming I'm not already boxed and delivered. I'll be well into my '60s 
at that point. The question to ask if you're looking for stability and 
the company's future beyond our lifetime is "What will the people in 
their 30s, 40s and 50s be interested in buying and using in 20 years?" I 
suspect a small number of anachronisms like us will still want a Leica M 
camera, but a FAR FAR greater number of buyers at that time will want a 
state of the art Leica-quality camera with the kind of lenses that we 
dream about and the features that integrate with their needs. 

Godfrey