[Leica] Kvetchmongering?

[jshul at comcast.net (Jim Shulman)]

Kvetchmongering, or
If we complain too much, Leica will take away our new toys and go home.

Oh, I see: Create a product for one of the most demanding, finicky groups of
photographers (and enthusiasts) in the world.
Charge a premium for the product.
Release the product several years after a similar product has been in the
market--and well behind the SLR rivals.
Enter the market with a less-than-stellar reputation for camera electronics
reliability.  Remember the R8, and the LUG stories about the repair trips
back to Solms?
Gin up the fanfare, with lots of (deserved) rave reviews.
Discover two significant problems (one correctable with a firmware upgrade,
requiring a trip back to Solms, the other one not electronically
correctable) within a week or two of introduction.

This isn't kvetchmongering.  It's the nature of selling an extremely
expensive technical product, not fully de-bugged, to a group of
technically-sophisticated consumers.  Professionals in any field talk before
they invest in equipment that is supposed to last for years.

If the M8 disappears, it's because there aren't enough photographers willing
to part with five grand for its virtues (or in spite of its flaws).  

The proof is in the camera, not the commentary.  


Jim Shulman
Bryn Mawr, PA


-----Original Message-----
From: lug-bounces+jshul=comcast.net@leica-users.org
[mailto:lug-bounces+jshul=comcast.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of Dante
Stella
Sent: Friday, November 24, 2006 1:03 PM
To: Leica Users Group
Subject: Re: [Leica] Leica M8: "I think it's going to be all right" 

I get the impression that the problems with the M8 are overstated.   
People love to repeat stuff like that, no matter how seldom it occurs  
- and you can look to the Kodak SLR and the Hexar RF to see where  
that chitter-chatter leads.  So I also wouldn't be surprised if the  
M8 disappears as a result of kvetchmongering.

On Nov 19, 2006, at 1:25 PM, Irving Greines wrote:

> I don't believe a series of filters (eveen if given away for free)  
> will
> solve Leica's problems.  There will have to be a permanent fix to the
> camera itself.  We love Leica because it is a quick, silent,  
> unobtrusive
> street camera; these attributes are undermined if the quickness
> component is compromised by a need to fiddle.
>
> Paying almost $5,000 for a camera that requires fixes in order to
> operate correctly in certain circumstances is a tough sell, except for
> those who "need" to buy and justify the latest Leica no matter  
> what.  In
> my view, after the initial sales are completed to those who simply  
> have
> to have the M8, the M8 will face tough sailing in the marketplace if
> Leica does not solve its present problem.
>
> I'm betting that Voightlander will furnish the fix in the form of a  
> much
> lower-priced body that doesn't have Leica's problems.
>
> I'd love to have an M8, but not the present-version. How many
> photographers will wait for the successor version, or the Voightlander
> version, before spending their money?  I feel many will wait.
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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