[Leica] Photokina LUG report (1b)

[Jem Kime <jem.kime@cwcom.net>]

Nathan Wajsman - I've a marketing question, after I've finished buying what 
I need, compared to other companies, Leica seem to do very little to tempt 
me to part with more money.
Leica - 	In recent years we have had to concentrate on sorting out our 
immediate financial concerns, now the company is more stable we can expand 
our range of fripperies. The Leica boutique, the Leica School, perhaps 
taught in English, etc.
	-Perhaps you could make and sell glasses, like Zeiss?
Leica - There would be a marketing problem to solve and advertising to 
cost, which is expensive. It's not an emotional product and we believe its 
more important to concentrate on developing digital.

Guido - 	Will we see the return of a screw mount Leica?
Leica - 	At present we have no plans to return to screw mount camera 
production, we've made the O series camera, we're aware of the strong retro 
market in Japan but we will re-evaluate the situation after the O series 
has exhausted its demand for production.

Ernesto - Why is there no 24mm frame in the new M6 TTL 0.58?
Leica - 	Of course we looked at this possibility when we were designing the 
camera, but when we examined the image seen of the frame with the lens and 
hood in position, more than a quarter of the frame was lost, therefore it 
was neither practical nor useful. Also there was a technical reason, the 
masks in the viewfinder system are cut within a fine sheet which in itself 
is too small to contain a 24mm mask.
	- And what of these rumours of developing into the medium format market?
	- This is a myth developed after a misunderstanding by journalists after 
something that Herr Cohn (CEO Leica) said.

Tom Abrahamsson - I would like a low cost entry level Leica, perhaps this 
could be built by teaming up with Cosina?
Leica - 	We will focus on the M-system but Herr Cohn has said we will 
enlarge the product family and one camera could be a lower price. We 
recently took the CL out to re-examine it, I doubt if we shall replicate  
 that but we are keen to enlarge our group of Leica users. As you can see 
from the new image we have tried to create at this year's Photokina, with 
the stand, the brochures, the web site and the advertising.

Brian Bower - What about accessories? In the mid 1970s you chopped the line 
almost completely. For example the copy legs, and copy stand (16511) these 
are often more convenient than using the R system. It's a good market, you 
could even sub-contract production. Leica must have made most of its 
fortune in the 1930s through its accessories.
Leica - 	Nowadays the opposite is true, on some accessories we hardly make 
anything. Its very difficult to handle them all, filters, bags, all that 
stuff. I agree though that if there are more useful accessories then maybe 
we should make them and give up the ones that aren't selling.
	- And what about continuing production of black paint cameras? The 
Millennium edition is already selling at nearly double the price.
	- We will not begin regular production now, it would not be fair to those 
who bought the cameras knowing them to be limited production. They need to 
be exclusive, but wait a while and see, its good that they are seen as so 
desirable and that the model holds a premium price.

Tom Abrahamsson - Picasso was asked if he was happy that a painting of his 
had sold for one million pounds, 'No', he replied, 'I sold it originally 
for five pounds'. The story seems similar to Leica, they are not receiving 
the advanced prices of these camera re-sales. Where is Leica's digital 
future heading?
Leica - 	We are investigating that, so far the development of digital 
technology has not made it sensible to develop our own digital consumer 
cameras, things have been out-dated in 6 months, now the horizon seems to 
be more stable. What we bring out mustn't be a copy, it needs to be 
modular, we need to keep our lens system but if we do that at present the 
chips (24mm x 36mm) are very expensive, $1000. The alternative is to use a 
smaller chip but that would mean the lens range become largely telephotos, 
we have to find a way to go into that business.
Tom A	- The M system would lend itself rather well to converting the back 
and having a data storage system within a new baseplate.

Jem Kime - You produced the S1 digital camera, what have you learnt from 
that?
Leica - 	In Japan, in a single company, 400 engineers produce ten new 
cameras a year. Here we have only 60 people in R & D, responsible for 
analogue as well as digital, it is not easy to do things alone, look at 
Rollei.
	- The APS market seems an incongruous one for Leica, why?
	- We will certainly concentrate on 35mm but we have to decide what to do 
in the compact market. We wanted a small compact camera with the features 
that are in the new C11 and found we could not make that in 35mm, so we 
knew we could in the APS size. The consumer's perspective is different to 
ours here, They go into a shop and largely buy a camera on looks, some r  
eally don't care who has made the camera, it will also bring new people to 
the Leica family.

Lucien - Will there be any different Tri-Elmars?
Leica - 	Certainly, a 35 - 50 - 90 is not a problem.

Terrence Dixon - Congratulations on the new M motor drive. Could there be a 
faster Tri-Elmar perhaps?
Leica - 	Think of what f-stop you'd like?
	- F2.8?
	- then think of the viewfinder and where the front element would be and 
what you'd see in the viewfinder, these issues dictate the feasibility of 
creating such a lens.

Emmanuel - Are you thinking of making some new short focal length lenses 
(like Cosina/Voigtlander)?
Leica - 	that would be a nice addition to the M system but you have to 
calculate lens cost against sales volume and price. It would certainly be a 
nice addition to the range, we're thinking seriously on this topic.
	- How do you think Cosina have achieved all their designs at such low 
cost?
	- Perhaps these are only hobby items for the Cosina owner (he can afford 
to indulge himself).