Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/08/16
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Kotsinadelis, Peter (Peter) wrote: > LUGites, > > I think Minolta would help Leica especially from a financial > perspective. > Since Leica really has a very small piece of the SLR market, imagine a > > Minolta/Leica R9 with AF lenses made by Leica. WOW! > > (BTW, AF technology was originated by Honeywell, Minolta was just the > first > to put it in an SLR and Konica the first in a point & shoot) > > You'd finally have some real competition for Nikon and Canon! Minolta > is > probably the best ergonomically engineered camera on the market. > Always > very easy to use. The Leica name has great value in the photography > market, > so combining this advantage and a state-of-the-art (albeit not a > collectible > piece just yet) Minolta made R9, would really help both companies form > a > financial perspective. Minolta may help getting things out to market > in a > timely fashion, perhaps even build in a motor drive so one doesn't > have to > wait a great length of time in the hope they finally become available. > > The only caveat is that they both are poor in the marketing > department, but > this is easy to remedy. The result may be great, technically, but many technically great product have failed on the market. Marketing is the problem I see with this Leica-Minolta team. Leica SLRs are still being accused of being overpriced Minoltas. And let's be fair; Minolta is the last of the Japanese Big Three. Minolta is not a "pro's choice" in the people's mind, and when you look at the statistics, it's not only in the people's minds. Compared to brands like Leica, Hasselblad, Linhof, Sinar et al, Minolta is a "cheapo-brand". This is not to say anything against Minolta, but they are positioned in a totally different market segment than Leica. B