Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/08/09
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Nonsense. I still use Canon LTM lenses on my M8. I can use almost almost every Nikon SLR lens on my D200. Obsolescence is in the mind of the buyer, not the manufacturer. It is a really stupid company that decides not to incorporate the best available technology in their products. American and many European automobile manufacturers and German camera manufacturers are the most obvious examples. The fact that new technology makes previous products "obsolescent" does not mean that the old products don't perform as they always performed. It simply means that the new products perform better. Leica ASPH lenses come to mind. Did Leica build obsolescence into their lenses so that they could be replaced by ASPH lenses? Only the fashion industry (led by France and Italy it seems) builds in obsolescence. The only way to build obsolescence into a non-fashion product is to build products with old technology when superior technology is already practical - or to build products that wear out before the buyer expects them to stop functioning - which Japanese manufacturers like Nikon and Canon etc have never done, AFAIK. The "built in obsolescence" that you refer to is driven by a passion to improve the product - something that Leica has demonstrated in its lenses, but rarely in its bodies. The last few years have seen Leica driven by the fashion industry. I hope the new management will change this. -- Clive Moss http://clive.moss.net/blog On Aug 8, 2007, at Aug 8, 8:51 PM, Joseph Low wrote: > Gentlemen > > Built in obsolescence has been the credo of Japanese manufacturers > since > the > Industrial revolution followiig WWII