[Leica] Re: mainstream thinking

[Alexey Merz <alexey@webcom.com>]

Erwin Puts wrote:
>Leica has trouble  to deliver. True. Lost its innovative edge? Wait
and see!

Jim Brick replied:
> I will indeed wait. Wait and buy. My interest is with thoroughbreds. Things
> bred from the best blood through a long line. I am not remotely interested
> in pacific rim knock-off's. I think of them like a fad. Interesting today,
> not interesting tomorrow.

> These knock-off's will not make the slightest perceptible dent in Leica's
> market share. If anything, it will increase Leica's market share. Move
> ex-Hexar M users to the real deal. The thoroughbred.

Yes. Put simply: I bought an M because it is an M, both for what it offers
and for what it does not. This does not mean that I would never own
an 
M7 or Hexar-RF or Minolta "CL2000" (or whatever they call it) AS
WELL AS 
an M2/4/6.
 
Pared down to one camera, the one I keep is the M6 HM. It appeals on
a 
large number of levels. The only limitations that I have encountered 
in my own photography stem from inherent limitations of the RF
design 
and not from the camera's deficiencies. Yes faster loading would be
a 
plus, but reliability is the most important thing here and my M has never
failed to take on the leader correctly. Yes TTL flash would be nice 
but of course Leica has addressed this. A motor winder is not necessary
as an Abrahammson rapidwinder when acquired will be silent & deadly. 
Battery dependance is a minus. Anything that changes the rounded
ends of
the body is a minus. AE is not a bad thing. And of course if you
want 
AF an SLR is the way to go because seening THROUGH  the lens is the
only 
way to ensure that the sensors have chosen the desired focal plane. 

An M7 or Hexar-RF or Minolta "CL2000" may indeed find its way into
my bag
as a second body that complements the M6's strengths. And I will
continue 
to buy leica glass. I expect to eventually succumb to a 90/2 APO
ASPH, a 
75/1.4, and a 24/2.8. Maybe even an R6.2 and a 100 AME.

Thoroughbreds, all.

Frankly, as Mark Rabiner and countless others have said, I bought into
the Leica system to get AWAY from planned obsolescence and features
that distract me from taking the best photographs that I can.

Other photographers, pros & amateurs both, will have different 
requirements.

- -Alexey