Re: [Leica] Bob Mac

["Roland Smith" <roland@dnai.com>]

Rod:

Your comments really make sense.   I have been trying to hold back on the
expression of my opinion as an amateur who has run many rolls of film
through Leicas since my purchase of a IIIg in 1957.  I have always had
Leicas and lenses. For regular use,  I have used and still have Canon, Nikon
and Pentax camera systems.

I have switched back to the use of a Leica M3 for my regular 35mm use and
found more comfort and confidence in taking responsibility for exposure and
distance setting.   My pictures have improved, especially the ones where I
am taking pictures of action and where I am taking subjects in low light.

The feel, smooth and quiet operation and precision feel of a Leica M  does
make it jewelry.

Your marketing idea may or may not be practical, but, it sure is intriguing
for its potential market reception.

It would be a shame if Leica were to withdraw from the manual market niche.

Roland Smith
- ----- Original Message -----
From: Rod Fleming <rodfleming@sol.co.uk>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Sunday, January 30, 2000 2:15 AM
Subject: [Leica] Bob Mac


> Hi
>
> Ah well, you can only resist so long.....
>
>
> Bob wrote
>
> > If I'm not mistaken I sparked at least some of this nonmetered M
> discussion
> > with a comment about an M2-2.
>
>
>
> No, No, No. Leica do not want to go downmarket.
>
> If Leica was asking me, I'd say, not the M2, M4, M6 or anything else with
> bits lopped off or left out- it wouldn't be any cheaper to make, and
they'd
> have to sell it low, undercutting and eroding M6 sales. Makes no sense at
> all.
>
> No, what I'd suggest would be a 50th Anniversary M3. Absolute replica of
the
> original, perhaps with the exception of the double wind, since the M3
> changed later, and the daft original flash connectors. Top quality
finishes,
> M3 viewfinder, engraved top plate etc etc. No motor, probably no hot shoe-
> they just don't look right, and we can design something much more
discreet,
> which would hopefully have the advantage of only being useable with a
Leica
> flash. I'd even go as far as using the original 50's packaging with as few
> slight changes as possible. Total nostalgia trip. Then I'd tell them to
sell
> it for a _LOT_ more than an M6. And it would sell, you know. It would sell
> like little hot cakes and Leica would make-a plenty-a dosh.
>
> The camera would not cut into M6 sales, being an instant collector, rather
> than a user. The marketing line would be something like- "the camera that
> started it all- recreating the birth of the legend for discerning
> connoisseurs". (Don't laugh.) This is where the reintroduction of the M3
> would score over cameras like the Millennium M6 in black paint, worthy
> though these initiatives are.
>
> The point is that Leica is in a niche market, not a mass market. It makes
> little sense for successful and established niche-marketeers to attack the
> mass market- there they are up against big fish who already have the
> production capability and the marketing muscle to fight on their own
terms.
> Leica need to choose their ground carefully., and I have no doubt that
> developing their niche-market position as purveyors of high-class
> photographic jewellery would be a lucrative path to follow.
>
> Leica marketing should look to history- have a look through some old
> pictures of movie stars...what camera do they carry, when they carry one?
> Yup. A Leica. Did they know how to use it? Oh yes.........
Exclusivity.
> That's where it's at. Hand-finished M3s at serious money for the rich and
> fashionable.
>
> Sorry if that does not seem to help the Leica user, but then I'm not
> thinking about this from the user's point of view, but from Leica's. I
think
> that in marketing terms Leica would be crackers to try to lower their
market
> position. Do we see Ferrari making hatchbacks? Can you buy a pony car with
a
> consumer 4-cylinder motor? Er, no.
>
> If anything Leica should be introducing higher-level product. I know they
do
> this already with the commemorative editions, but the advantage of the
> reintroduced M3 is that it could go on and on- all Leica would have to do
> would be to make sure that annual production was 10% less than annual
> orders!
>
> Cheers
>
> Rod
>
>
>
>