[Leica] Re: New Zeiss Ikon

[s.jessurun95 at chello.nl (animal)]

As you mentioned earlier i think ,nothing  is known about the real
performance of the new system.
Isn,t it a bit premature to anounce a winner before a match?
best regards
simon jessurun
amsterdam

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>
To: "'Leica Users Group'" <lug@leica-users.org>
Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 2004 10:53 PM
Subject: RE: [Leica] Re: New Zeiss Ikon


> IF that's Leica's response to an entire line of new Zeiss t-star lenses,
> a film rangefinder body, and what will undoubtedly be a digital body,
> then we most assuredly have the answer to the question. Because if Leica
> survives as the Hermes of cameraland, it might as well not survive.
>
> And there's another point to think about here, folks - Leica is still
> around today for only one reason:
>
> In the early 1960s, Zeiss/Contax and Nikon abandoned the pro-rangefinder
> playing field. Nikon, which made what was definitely the best body at
> that time - the SP - decided to put all its eggs in the SLR basket, a
> decision which was a loss for those of us who love rangefinders, but was
> obviously a winner for Nikon. And Contax must have decided that there
> wasn't going to be enough rangefinder business to keep them going.
>
> So that left the barren playing field to Leica, which, other than
> improving it's lens line, hasn't done anything truly innovative since
> bringing out and abandoning the M5. And, when you think about it, really
> hasn't done anything innovative since the "O."
>
> But because there have been enough photographers committed to using
> rangefinders, and enough dilitants committed to owning Leicas - and a
> scarf company willing to buy up a grand old brand name - Leica's limped
> along to the present day.
>
> Now, however, we are on the downward slope of the technology range
> taking us into the next age of photography. Any company that wants to
> survive in the new age is going to have to be a real part of that age.
> And up to this point, Leica has, as usual, limped along at the back end
> of the parade.
>
> So this time Zeiss - well the Zeiss/Kyocera/Hassleblad/Contax coalition
> - has decided to stick around and pickup  the pieces. Unless Leica is
> prepared to move, and move very quickly - perhaps by talking Nikon,
> Canon, or Olympus into a rangefinder partnership, Leica's days are,
> sadly, very much numbered. I say "sadly" with total sincerity, because I
> am enough of a traditionalist to be touched by the Leica heritage - I'd
> rather be shooting in a new age with a grandchild of HCB's M3s, than
> shooting with a Kocerstein's monster patched together with parts from a
> washing machine, a high-milage care, and a disposable camera. :-)
>
> B. D.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org
> [mailto:lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of
> Dan C
> Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 2004 4:33 PM
> To: Leica Users Group
> Subject: RE: [Leica] Re: New Zeiss Ikon
>
>
> Leica has responded in part by offering the a la carte Leica.  But have
> you
> seen the prices?    Do I really want to spend upwards of $4,000 USD for
> the
> privilege of picking the colour of my camera?  Are there enough people
> out there willing to do so to keep Leica afloat?
>
> -dan c.
>
> At 04:26 PM 29-09-04 -0400, B. D. Colen wrote:
> >Emanuel says..
> >"The old era of Zeiss - Leitz rivalry was a heady time
> >for 35mm design," and asks...
> >
> >"Now, in these days, how will Leica respond?"
> >
> >---
> >As they, sadly, always have ... With too little, too late, and at too
> >high a price.
> >
> >These are not the heady days of the Zeiss/Leitz competition - which, if
>
> >we recall, were actually the days of the Zeiss/Leitz/Nikon competition.
> >;-)
> >
> >These are the days of the Zeiss/Kyocera/Cosina/Hassie consortium moving
>
> >in to clean up the remaining scraps from the rangefinder table - scraps
>
> >that could have been Leicas had Leica moved 18 months ago, or even
> >further back, when the Cosina handwriting was writ large upon the wall.
> >
>
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