[Leica] Re: Leica's rivals

[richard-lists at imagecraft.com (Richard)]

My point is speculating ad-nauseum on the 6 bits digital M lens encoding is 
less useful than even debating the merits of silver vs. black :-)

At 07:42 PM 7/13/2006, you wrote:


>Surely you jest. Compared to Canon and Nikon, Leica is no more than a flea 
>on an elephant. As for losing it in the 60s, it was Leica that was the 
>loser. In 1963 Leica dominated the expensive 35 mm camera market, selling 
>nearly four times as many cameras as Nikon. By 1966 the SLR emerged as the 
>preferred camera form and Nikon's sales were half again greater than 
>Leica's and Canon's sales were growing fast. Both companies read the tea 
>leaves (financial reports), abandoned the RF camera and never looked back. 
>I agree that the RF market was so small that only one niche player could 
>survive, and that on a marginal basis. If there is a place for RF film 
>cameras it is disappearing as fast as the ice in my gin and tonic in 
>today's 90 degree weather.  Except for a few of us nostalgia loving old 
>farts, the Leica film camera's day is over. The digital M means that even 
>Leica agrees.
>
>Larry Z

// richard (This email is for mailing lists. To reach me directly, please 
use richard at imagecraft.com)