Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/12/04

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Re: RF vs Reflex
From: Marc James Small <msmall@infi.net>
Date: Wed, 04 Dec 2002 20:33:28 -0500

At 07:03 PM 12/4/02 -0500, Sal DiMarco,Jr. wrote:
>Fellow Luggers,
>    In an earleir posting Martin Howard said, "Real men shoot with a
>Visoflex." While, I think he was trying to be humorous, it was this type of
>thinking at E. Leitz GMBH in the mid 1950's which prevented the development
>of a Leica single lens reflex camera, until Nikon had control of the market.
>Leica could have kept it's share of the market if they had an SLR ten years
>earlier.

Sal

It is a LOT deeper than simply the choice of gear.  Nikon supported their
professional shooters utterly and completely for many years in a way that
Leitz and Zeiss Ikon and Rolleiflex did not.  If you busted a lens on a
shoot in Lower Ventricle, North Dakota, the Germans would tell you, "ach!
send it in, and we will fix it, for a fee!" while Nikon said, "pick up a
replacement lens at so-and-so tomorrow".  This won over the professional
community REALLY fast, and the rest is history.

Marc

msmall@infi.net  FAX:  +276/343-7315
Cha robh bąs fir gun ghrąs fir!

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Replies: Reply from S Dimitrov <sld@earthlink.net> (Re: [Leica] Re: RF vs Reflex)