Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/11/29
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Eric Welch, I've got my own theory on why R sales are down; based, more or less, on my own buying habits. I would have upgraded in a "heartbeat" to a new R-24, R-35, & R-90 patterned off the latest M apo/ASPH lenses. Instead, Leica put their money & production into their new 35-70 f2.8 zoom, which is too heavy for hand held work.....my judgement. Why were the fixed focal lengths from 24 through 90 totally ignored ( with the exception of the 50 f1.4) for the R-series; in fact, the 90 f2 & 90 f2.8 have been discontinued. Of course, the initial R8 QC problems & lack of R8 motor drive were not very auspicious "start up" events for new R customers. Hopefully, the R8 QC problems are over. Even more discouraging, given the superlative array of M optics, why didn't rangefinder sales increase? Has Leica ever done a survey of their customer base? They might learn what some of their loyal customers are willing to spend their money on. Heaven forbid (&>)! Tom D.