Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/06/18

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Subject: [Leica] New M mount Sonnar 1.5 50mm
From: don.dory at gmail.com (Don Dory)
Date: Sun Jun 18 16:04:25 2006
References: <200606181756.k5IHrFN3073017@server1.waverley.reid.org> <000901c69329$a8639ac0$6401a8c0@asus930>

Hoppy,
Specifically I was speaking to the demise of Zeiss Ikon, but their handling
of the Kyocera made Contax line left a lot to be desired as well.  Selling
roughly 1000 cameras a month of a highly niche product is not bad at all.
The number of lenses is not surprising considering the quality to price
ratio.  What I would like to know is what is the distribution on lenses
sold.  My guess would be an early run on 50's that then ran to the 25 and
35.

Distrubuting through Hasselblad was probably not a good idea as their market
share presence is near zero and with nary a booth at PMA it would be hard to
garner interest from the average dealer.  They did have a room that they
would invite you in to if you were a somebody, but that doesn't do a lot for
creating a buzz in the market.

I wish them the best and hope they and Epson can come up with a digital M
mount camera.

Don
don.dory@gmail.com


On 6/18/06, G Hopkinson <hoppyman@bigpond.net.au> wrote:
>
> Don, are you referring to Contax badged products regarding marketing
> acumen?
> That's a whole other tragedy that still wounds me deeply!
> I meant to highlight the new ZI RF range and their new Nikon and M42 mount
> manual focus lenses.
>
> CZ have stated that they had 3500 cameras in customer's hands from Nov
> 2005
> to Feb 2006 with 2.5 lenses per camera sold. They also claimed that their
> production of 1000 cameras per month was accounted for several months in
> advance. Those are tiny figures compared to a giant like say, Canon, of
> course.
> Still I think it is encouraging that they think the niche worth servicing.
> I'm sure some knowledgeable LUG member would be able to tell me what the M
> production comparison would be. Anyone?
>
> I completely agree with Jeffery and other posters that it's sad to see
> CameraQuest have to stop selling the CZ products. Stephen's site has
> always
> been a good resource and of course he champions the CV products.
>
> I don't know all of the mechanics of Hasselblad USA distribution. In
> Australia, as far as I know, it's just one of the brands also distributed
> by
> one company (who is primarily the Pentax distributor)
> This is the same company that imports the ZI range, but you'd never know
> it
> from their public presence.
>
> Reportedly exactly FIVE of the original ZI RF bodies came to OZ. Two were
> on
> dealers shelves down south, one in Sydney with a completely film committed
> dealer and one is cycling endlessly on eBay AU. Maybe I could buy one and
> send it to Kyle for the FrankenBarbie treatment. Now THAT would be a rare
> collectors item.
>
> Cheers
> Hoppy
> Dull, overcast day here, but some B/W negs to scan.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 9
> Date: Sun, 18 Jun 2006 10:07:29 -0400
> From: "Don Dory" <don.dory@gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: RE: Subject: Re: [Leica] New M mount Sonnar 1.5 50mm
>        (hoax?)
> To: "Leica Users Group" <lug@leica-users.org>
> Message-ID:
>        <9b678e0606180707k1197ec68ocd7ca129c9379594@mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> Well, for cameras at least Zeiss hasn't been especially intelligent in the
> marketing department.  I wonder what they are planning to do, selling a
> very
> much niche market that depends very much on some dealers out there to push
> the brand and the associated products?  Time will tell.
>
> Don
> don.dory@gmail.com
>
>
> On 6/18/06, Daniel Ridings <dlridings@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > On 6/18/06, G Hopkinson <hoppyman@bigpond.net.au> wrote:
> >
> > > In Australia, the current distributor (who is also the Hasselblad
> > > distributor) don't even have a single word on them on their web site.
> > > Interesting marketing strategy for an (admittedly niche)quality
> product.
> >
> > I think Zeiss has decided to take back distribution from Hasselblad
> > and do it themselves. That's probably why. I think they're right in
> > the middle of this now. Stephen Gandy at CameraQuest had some issues
> > in connection with this change in marketing (he got shafted).
> >
> > Daniel
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Leica Users Group.
> > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> >
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>

In reply to: Message from hoppyman at bigpond.net.au (G Hopkinson) ([Leica] New M mount Sonnar 1.5 50mm)