[Leica] Commutative M7

[mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner)]

> 
> Apart from the fact that BD obviously doesn't own a Porsche, I
> wouldn't disagree with much of what he says.
> 
> I now have a wonderful coffee maker and juicer made by Siemens,
> Germany, but "designed by F.A. Porsche".
> 
> And very good they are too - well-designed, reliable, and do the job
> very efficiently. But I do wish my juicer's 0-60 performance were a
> bit better......
> 
> Moving on to Leica, they're between a rock and a hard place. They're
> far too small to make the necessary investment in R&D, unless Hermes
> let them. Hermes obviously view Leica cameras as yet another piece of
> (predominantly male) luxury jewellery, and the new pick'n' mix
> service does nothing to dispel that view.
> 
> It may pain BD, and it certainly pains me, but Leica is, as he says,
> going to be dead in the water fairly soon.
> 
> Unless......
> 
> Whatever us old Leica buffs may think,  the future is digital.
> Nostalgia ain't what it used to be. My main pro dealer here in Cork
> is no longer 'Denis McSweeney's', but 'Denis McSweeney's Digital
> Camera Shop'. He's right, and is investing huge amounts of money to
> ensure he survives into the new era. The downside of that is that his
> stock of s/h film-based equipment has gone from excellent to lousy in
> the space of a few months - apart from his Leica collection which
> you're all aware of.
> 
> Leica will not survive on nostalgia. Unless they emulate Nikon/Canon,
> and produce digital kit of unbeatable quality which appeals to
> specific markets (pro and non-pro), they will not survive - Hermes or
> no. There are many alternative options in terms of male jewellery,
> and most of them have nothing to do with cameras.
> 
> It's sad, I know, and I, for one, will be a film-based Leica nut for
> what remains of my life. After all, at least it gives you the
> satisfaction and the fun of enjoying a 50 year-old Leitz
> state-of-the-art fast telephoto lens. See:
> 
> http://www.iol.ie/~corkflor/
> 
> In summary, unless Leica can produce something as brilliant as the
> Canon Ixus II (and they have no shortage of brains to do so), I can
> see no reason why they deserve to survive. Very sad, but B.D. is
> absolutely right.
> 
> Best
> 
> Alexc.
> 

>slight snippet<
The Epson R1D1 came out last week.
I think it's a hit.
The Leica digital M comes out in a year.

Leica will be saved became it's giving it's owners a digital option.
And not a minute too soon.
It scraped by this year.
I foresee smooth sailing after a year.

It will then be going strong just in time for the digital backlash.
A time in a very few years when the photo world simultaneously tires of all
the pixels; and goes back to their darkroom again.
To produce silver emulsion on quality fiber paper output.
Maybe even platinum from scanned Photoshoped output.

And all those people who got into it because of inkjet and CCD's.....
They will be involved.

I say it's a boom for everyone.
Classic film cameras will be held in high esteem as soon as the backlash
hits.
In every trend there is always a backlash.
Things always go full circle.

With every of the dozens of print making forms involved with photography
there is a period of its initial heyday. The a gap for the next trend.
Then it comes back to become ether big or a real ongoing option for photo
output.

There are lots of camreas out there which use film.
They're not all going to hit the trashcan simultaneously.
People will take them off the shelf and want to see them do their stuff.



Mark Rabiner
Photography
Portland Oregon
http://rabinergroup.com/