Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/10/14
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Emanuel, I fully agree with your assessment of Coenen vs. Cohn. I too think it is a change for the better, looking at the two men's respective records. But I do not agree with you that Leica's lack of new products at Photokina is not a big issue. It is. The photo industry is rapidly transforming, whether we like it or not, and any company that wants to survive has to adapt--quickly. The M7 is not "recent" anymore, and the MP and the a la carte program are just cosmetic changes. This was my fourth Photokina, and the traffic at the Leica stand was decidedly less than during the previous 3 shows I have attended--for good reason. People go to Photokina to see new and exciting products, and changing a few knobs here and there and coming up with new covering for your existing cameras just does not cut it. Nathan Emanuel Lowi wrote: > By all accounts, the replacement of Cohn by Coenen > (despite their aggravatingly similar names -- don't > they have any Schmidts left in Germany?) is all for > the better. > > Coenen is ex-Zeiss. He is not a clever marketer of > furniture. He is a person who knows optics and camera > engineering from the inside. He has a business degree. > Sounds good to me so far. > > He has worked himself up the Leica Solms ladder for > the past few years. For my money, that kind of person > is intrinsically superior to some smarty-pants who > swoops in from the outside, with even the best of > intentions and Hermes' backing. > > Meanwhile, some 25% of Leica's shares have been bought > by a group of Austrian investors who previously picked > up another piece of the Leica group of companies. > These are people who want to own technology-minded > companies, not a scarf and handbag manufacturer. > > It bugs me to read people ridiculing Leica for doing > nothing. They recently released the M7 and MP and > several new lenses. Just because Photokina and PMA > occur with predictable regularity, does Leica always > have to show up there with some totally new thing, as > if on cue? > > Rest assured that the Leica M digital camera will > closely resemble a film M, not some gussied up Cosina. > It'll have significantly more megapixels than the > Epson. > > But like the Epson, within a few short years it will > be superseded by advancing technology and anyone who > buys one will feel like dumping it for the new and > improved. > > So how many here consider their 50-year-old design M > cameras obsolete yet? Not me, no matter what the > market keeps telling me to believe. > > Emanuel Lowi > Montreal > > ______________________________________________________________________ > Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > -- Nathan Wajsman Almere, The Netherlands General photography: http://www.nathanfoto.com Seville photography: http://www.fotosevilla.com