Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/09/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Philippe, I think that you do not properly understand the retail market. By far profits come from the amateur market. The pro market is possibly a loss leader to convince the amateur that brand Z is better than brand Y. If you saw the prices that the majors sell equipment to newspapers and other large users of photo equipment you would be very shocked at how little is paid. Also consider the cost of pro support; if you are properly registered and known to them they will ship you the most amazing stuff to bail you out. As far as medium format; for the most part clients just want a file size. Almost no one cares what took the image. Exceptions to that rule come from insecure art directors who think far more about their project than it deserves. Why do you think that Leica is pushing the re-badged Panasonics? Even the limited profit that they gain from selling their name per camera amounts to a lot of money. On 9/19/07, Philippe Orlent <philippe.orlent@pandora.be> wrote: > > There are three markets: commercial photographers, amateurs, and the > crowd. > First and third are most interesting. > First couldn't care less about Leica. All photography is post > processed now. Custom made, with immeasurable possibilities of > personalisation. And they almost all want medium format anyway. > Third couldn't spot the difference between Leica and others in a > mile. Nor do they have the budget to buy it, even if they wanted to. > Which leaves us with the amateurs. I consider myself to be one. > I'm just afraid that that niche is too small to survive on. And not > every amateur is willing to pay Leica prices, too, BTW. > > Philippe > > > Op 19-sep-07, om 23:01 heeft Lottermoser George het volgende geschreven: > > > I was walking down that path with you Philippe. I thought, "OK. > > Leica lenses on Canon Full Frame 5D. Best of all worlds." Then I > > handled a DMR unit with the same Leica glass. "Holy s**t. The RAW > > files from the 5D fail to come up to the RAW file quality from the > > DMR." > > > > So the sensor, as well as the software, come into play. From my > > anecdotal experience with CCD and Cmos; there's no contest when one > > looks for fine micro detail, micro edge contrast and dynamic range. > > Just like films have their unique qualities - so do the digital > > capture systems. And just like film kept getting better and better; > > so will the digital capture systems. The lens will always have to > > perform up to the imaging limits of the films and/or sensors. > > > > Which is why, in this uncertain world, a whole slew of medium > > format back manufacturers, who played in that $20K plus sandbox, > > can no longer be found there; and you can pickup their leavings for > > a song, now that the 35 framework has broken the 6 megapixel barrier. > > > > The current, big, medium format backs and large format scanning > > backs are demanding ever better optical systems be put in front of > > them. > > > > Regards, > > George Lottermoser > > george@imagist.com > > > > > > > > On Sep 19, 2007, at 3:41 PM, Philippe Orlent wrote: > > > >> I just think that the legendary quality of Leica will become less > >> important than it was before. In the film days, you needed this > >> quality to get the best out of the medium. > >> Which, if you're really honest, wasn't that performant, by the > >> way, so it could use Leica lenses etc. > >> Nowadays, it's just software that takes over. > >> Do I like that? Not at all. But it does make me choose my D200 > >> instead of opting for the (expensive) Leica solution. > >> That's the contradiction: I love Leica (emotionally), but > >> sometimes a mistress can become too expensive, too. > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Leica Users Group. > > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > -- Don don.dory@gmail.com