[Leica] In the hands of its engineers, not bean counters

[vick.ko at sympatico.ca (Vick Ko)]

Leica needs to be in the hands of visionaries who understand what they
want to be, and what their customers want them to be.  

And that doesn't spell "Engineers" nor "Bean-counters".  They need
engineers, and a bean-counter to make the business succeed.

I remember the heydays when Leica made enlargers, every type of
accessory that one could imagine, SLR's, Visoflexes when you couldn't
decide between SLR's and RF's, close-up gear, you name it.

So if one such as Leica were to be in the photographic business these
days, where do they look?

Their new products are priced to the stratosphere, but there are those
who will pay for it.   The optics are still stellar.  Their design and
workmanship was at one time legendary; and there are those who are
willing to pay for that, when it is done properly.  The brand is still
valuable.  

If they want to get into the "photographic technology race", I would
think they need extremely deep R&D pockets to compete with Nikon, Canon,
Minolta, etc. in the digital race, optical innovation race, auto-focus
race, vibration cancellation race, ... and on and on.

It saddens me to hear of defects in their new products.  I wonder if
their percentage of "first-off defects" is any higher than other
companies.  

So where does Leica end up?  A brand with uncompromising product
quality?  Stellar optics?  To stay alive, there will need to be a
digital back.  Does that back need to come from Leica?  I don't think
so.  In image-making, I think there can be a place for a maker of
stunning lenses.  


regards,
Vick