Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/06/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]In einer eMail vom 21.06.97 17:11:50, schreiben Sie: << Yes, I had a G1, liked the lens, but was disappointed with the manual focusing also, especially for closeups. >> AFAIK there were some serious thinking about the Konica Hexar to be adapted as a kind of "low end Leica M". Leica calculated it out and found that the price of such a camera would have been less than 500$ smaller than a M6 (due to the limited number of production). This would not have been a commercial success. I personally expect a new Leica M7 with a TTL flash control and maybe a slightly faster shutter, using not rubber but titanium for the curtains*. If I were Leica I would not give a damn on any voice which says. "I want it substantially cheaper, with autofocus and so on..." People who tell so, can buy a Contax G2 and pay half the Leica price. I think that in general the market for range finder system cameras is very limited, as most photographers are very happy with their cheap p&s. To tell it the other way around: A Rolls Royce costs 250.000 $ and runs 15 MPG. Would you buy it if it would cost half the price and have double the mileage? *This expectation is pure imagination, as I have not got any confidential infos from the factory for the last two years. What I find not totally satisfying with the existing M-System is the facht, that there are three lenses now which are not fully supported by the finder (21 mm, 24 mm and - to a certain extent - 135 mm) Maybe they could think about kind of a bifocal finder which manages to toggle between 21 mm base view (covers up to 35 mm) and 50 mm base view (covers the rest). Just an idea... Frank