[Leica] Re: LUG Digest, Vol 33, Issue 208

[lrzeitlin at optonline.net (Lawrence Zeitlin)]

On Nov 5, 2006, at 9:31 PM, Jim Schulman wrote:

> Hoppy hit on something important: once again, there's a real  
> advantage to
> investing in a Leica system.
>
> We used to own Leicas for three main reasons--
> They are famous for low-light photography.
> They are ideal for documentary shots of people.
> They're made like tanks, and should be expected to last a lifetime  
> under
> normal conditions.
>
> With the advent of digital photography, the ease and convenience of
> electronic imaging seemed to convince most professionals (including  
> Leica
> devotees) that it was worth forsaking the film rangefinder.
>
> Now we can have all the advantages of a (relatively) quiet  
> rangefinder, with
> the advantages of low-light digital.  In other words, the fundamental
> reasons for owning a Leica have been reincarnated for the digital  
> age.  The
> only question is longevity, which may be truncated by the rapid  
> pace of
> obsolescence in digital photography technology.


Here is a modest proposal. The next Leica (M9) should be modular with  
the mechanicals, lens mount, shutter, and rangefinder in one module  
and the electronics, sensor, microcomputer, battery in the other.  
When technology advances to the point where the electronics are  
obsolete, the electronics module could be slipped out of the case and  
replaced with the newer and hopefully better version. Perhaps Leica  
could run an upgrade service similar to the one which upgraded the  
older LTM cameras to later models. If that were the case, $5000 for a  
camera body might not be such a bad deal.

What kept the film Leicas viable for decades is that the mechanical  
and optical components lasted long enough to accommodate many changes  
in film technology. If the M8 is built to the same standards as other  
M series cameras, the optical and mechanical components should not  
have to be discarded with every generation of electronics. Remember  
that in the computer world, the half life of a technology is only  
about two years.

Larry Z