[Leica] New R Solution?

[douglas.sharp at gmx.de (Douglas Sharp)]

  Nice to kick some ideas around :-)

Full aperture metering really is the crux of the matter 
- there will have to be some kind of mechanism to stop 
the lens down for shooting.

For this, I too can only envisage this being a 
motorized system installed in some kind of adapter with 
an electronic interface to the camera - I like the idea 
of a ring to control the aperture setting, like on the 
OM-1 body

Otherwise, we would have to dial in the aperture and 
stop down accordingly.

Do we actually need a shutter mechanism? Probably not, 
there must ways of switching a sensor on and off as an 
alternative.

Of course the ideal solution would be a BIG rangefinder 
body for R-lenses, with a very precise rangefinder to 
take account of long lenses :-)
Forget the traditional rangefinder principle and use a 
laser rangefinder instead perhaps? Laser are a penny a 
dozen these days.

Or a return to the Periflex system where you dropped a 
periscope mirror (maybe a sensor would do it too?) into 
the raypath.


I would actually like to see a Live-View/control unit, 
with all the controls you need, that fits into the top 
shoe (at least a 3" monitor, preferably larger) as a 
waist level finder (with a loupe for checking focus), 
could strapped to your wrist or connected by a remote 
cable or Bluetooth so you can compose your shots and 
shoot from almost anywhere.

All wishful thinking

Douglas



On 07.09.2010 23:02, Aram Langhans wrote:
> As a faithful "R" lens user, the way I see it, Leica 
> has two goals to meet for a digital solution.
> 1.  They must lure enough people from Canon, Nikon, 
> Sony, etc to make the venture profitable.  To do this 
> they need to somehow offer something that the big 
> boys do not, be it a feature or quality.  This of 
> course also means a whole new line of autofocus 
> lenses.  I don't see that happening for a reasonable 
> price.
> 2. They need to bring back to the fold the loyal "R" 
> users.  To do this they most provide something that 
> we have not cobbled together on our own, so to 
> speak.  The only thing they can do to improve the 
> situation that exists now (adapters for C, N, 4/3, 
> etc) is to provide a lens mount system/adapter that 
> allow for full aperture metering and focusing, and a 
> focus screen/system that is as workable as a good 
> film SLR of days gone by (read R8/9). Everything else 
> is easily provided for by C, N, etc.   They have 
> outstanding low light performance and (too) many 
> features.
>
> I think a super quality mirrorless system may offer 
> something new to the masses.  It also may provide 
> enough lens flange to sensor room to allow an adapter 
> to be built with some sort of servo motor mechanisms 
> to stop the lens down during the exposure, and maybe 
> even allow for shutter priority automation.  This 
> would be a big improvement over the existing C, N, 
> 4/3  to Leica blends we are now using.  The only 
> thing for me is the viewfinder system, and how that 
> will work with a manual focus lens.
> So, while I do not hold out much hope for any 
> acceptable upcoming announcement, I have hung in 
> there for quite a few years, so a few more weeks will 
> not  kill me.
>
> Aram
>
>> Subject: Re: [Leica] New R Solution?
>> To: Leica Users Group <lug at leica-users.org>
>> Message-ID: 
>> <519BD44D-1229-48AA-AF19-C4AA411C77C5 at btinternet.com>
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>>
>> I don't think there is any hope of a new unique 
>> design camera. They have lost their shirts on 
>> almost, if not every new reflex camera they have 
>> ever designed, never sold enough to get the design 
>> and tooling costs back, this includes the 
>> Leicaflexes and the R8 and R9, whether they made any 
>> money on the models machined from Minolta castings I 
>> don't know, but the market for a dSLR has too much 
>> inexpensive competition for a Leica model to 
>> succeed. I believe neither the Canon EOS1 series nor 
>> the Nikon D3 models make any profit, and can only 
>> exist because of profits made on the mass market 
>> models, which, of course, Leica do not have...
>> I am not expecting much at all, I am afraid. The DMR 
>> is still rather fine though...
>> Frank
>
>
>
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