Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/11/24
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 09:50 PM 11/23/97 -0800, Stephen Gandy wrote: > >With all due respect, these statements simply are not true. (The rest snipped) Well, we're probably quibbling over "technical innovations" as few of what Mr Gandy lists are what I was speaking of. By "technical innovations", I was speaking of things like "the first pentaprism SLR" (Contax S, Rectaflex, or Alpa Prisma Reflex)) or "first instant-return mirror" (arguably either the Alpa IV or the Asahiflex IIb) and the like, not who combined these into a single package or who made it "better". The Contarex, for instance, offered many of the same features and a few not offered by the Nikon, but at a somewhat higher price. Rudy Lea, in his REGISTER OF 35mm SINGLE LENS REFLEX CAMERAS only credits the Nikon F with the innovations of the battery-powered motor drive and the PC lens. By the way, the first 35mm multi-focus production lens was the Zoomar, built by Heinz Kilfitt under license from Frank Back in a variety of mounts, most notably Voigtlander Bessamatic (1959), Exakta, and M42. I am not denigrating Nikon in any way but its success hinged not so much on its technical offerings as on the solid and superb support provided to professional photographers by Erenreich and his staff. A pro doing a shoot in Backofthebeyond, Montana, whose Nikon broke on a Saturday morning would almost certainly have a replacement in a couple of hours: call Leica or Zeiss Ikon and they would simply tell you to send the old one in for service. The difference was night and day, and professionals flocked to Nikon in droves, as the solid construction and sterling service combined to give them a trustworthy tool. Marc msmall@roanoke.infi.net FAX: +540/343-7315 Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!