Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/02/11
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I think a comparison to the SL2 is a better one as to size and weight. This is also a unit that is enjoying a demand by users as well as collectors. Several N---- and C---- users have looked at my R8 with Motor and commented "Wow a LEICA- Man this thing is SOLID" I had to resort to threats of physical harm to get it out of their hands. I would not think ideas for improvement with this Excellent camera are falling on Deaf Ears at Leica. I think we'll see improvements over the next few years. BTW Some of us have Bigger Hands. Cheers Wilber GFE http://www.jeffcoatphotography.com Emanuel Lowi wrote: > Hans-Peter Lammerich wrote: > > "To some extend, the R8 resembles the history of the M5. The customers did not > like the additional bulk and shape in comparison to the classic M body. Leica > then discontinued the M5, re-issued the M4 and customers had to wait for the M6, > until Leica was able to find a supplier for the TTL device who could > economically design and manufacture for a small production number and who was > able to shoehorn the device into the classic M body." > > H-PL - have you hooked those thoughts right out of my brain today? I have often > thought that the R8 is the M5 redux. > > But do not misconstrue: unlike your feelings for the R8, I LOVE the M5. It is a great > camera designed with ergonomic genius, high precision and some special features that > mark it as unique in the Leica family tree. Yet therein lies its (and the R8's) > problem: it is an odd-looking evolutionary dead-end, shaped without respect for > Leica's traditional qualities and probably without much thought about where the > design might lead, if anywhere. This is what is so worrisome again today. > > The M5 marketplace failure probably endangered Leitz Wetzlar's viability more than we > know. I bet Cohn has the smarts to prevent the same from happening all over again to > Solms because of the R8. > > Barnack made Leica's reputation by designing a S-M-A-L-L camera, remember? > > It is worth noting, however, that 25 years after production was cancelled, the M5 > has won over a whole new generation of buyers who recognize its unusual virtues. > Prices for nice M5 bodies are now equal to (or higher than) prices for an M6 in > equivalent condition. The tale was quite different just a few years ago. > > Perhaps the wiser youngsters of today will be hunting down R8 cameras sometime after > 2020! > > Emanuel Lowi > Montreal - -- Cheers Wilber GFE tel. 803-469-2440 http://www.jeffcoatphotography.com