Re: [Leica] Leica technology, creative control

[Alan Ball <AlanBall@csi.com>]

Eric Welch wrote:
> I'm sure Leica would sell a bunch more lenses at $1,700 rather than the
> $2,400-$3,000 they sell for. No doubt about it. 

I also believe Leica would be a real competitor on the pro and power
user SLR market with another pricing policy, even without AF. Instead
they price themselves out of the SLR market.

> But that's just dreaming.
> They wouldn't stay in business, because they would cost too much to make.

That is not as obvious as it sounds: production organization is a very
complicated and intricate matter. I'm not sure Solms is as efficiently
organised as it could be (the recent introduction of SAP R/3 as the
company's ERP might help change things though). 

Leica has often outsourced production in the past, as you know. But
never seemed to take advantage of the scaling of costs derived from
outsourcing to review the pricing policy of the products. 

To go back to the core of this thread, what does a competitive 35mm SLR
pro use these days ? Mostly 3 zooms: an "ultra-wide" zoom, a 28-70 and a
70-210, all with maximum partures of f2.8, with 1 or 2 faster
alternatives in the bag for difficult situations. Sports photographers
and wildlife photographers will also use longer focal lengths. If
Leica's offer in the zoom field included normally priced options for the
trio I mentionned and for the "main" long teles, there would hardly be a
reason left not to consider that brand when deciding on a intensive
usage SLR setup. Same remark for the "mainstream" zoom offer: their
price/quality ratio is currently completely irrealist. 

That would still leave room for continuing the slow, expensive pace of
production of the high-end fixed focal concession free gems Solms
proudly offers since always (macros, fast medium length APO teles, ultra
wide angles, M lenses, etc).

If Leicaphiles have survived with disguised Minolta gear during quite a
few years, that means that at least part of the production can be
designed and manufactured under conditions different than the ones in
Solms.

But the selling price of the most recent R 50mm f1.4 blatantly shows
once more that Leica does not care to compete. The ultra-conservative
approach they maintain for the M line proves it furthermore ( I hope
Photokina will contradict this). I sincerely (really) wish that this
strategy of the margins will not jeopardize the medium term existence of
"our" ("your") favorite supplier.

Friendly regards,
Alan
Brussels-Belgium