[Leica] Leica implications about future developments

[lrzeitlin at gmail.com (Lawrence Zeitlin)]

Steve,
Before the M8 was introduced, Leica discouraged the possibility of digital
cameras meeting Leica quality standards. After the M8 was released, Leica
made statements that a full frame Leica was impossible and that we should be
content with a 1.3 multiplication factor. Further the magenta blacks were a
feature rather than a liability and were necessitated by the elimination of
an IR filter in the reach for higher B&W picture quality. This is a classic
case of discouraging consumer expectations of product improvement in the
hope of encouraging sales of present products. Leica's precarious financial
situation a few years back prompted the company to deny that the M8 was a
stopgap camera, a way station on the route to a full frame digital camera
that could make full use of Leica lenses. Perhaps someone remembered the sad
case of the Osborne portable computer, the first computer that was small
enough to lug around on an airplane. The Osborne Portable, about the size
and weight of a large portable typewriter was reasonably popular and sold
well. The company then released plans for a new model, the Osborne II, which
would be smaller, lighter and more powerful. Immediately sales of the older
computer ceased as customers postponed purchases to wait for the new model.
Cash flow stopped and the company went bankrupt. Leica was, and probably
still is, in the same position. It could hardly say "Our new M8 is pretty
good but we have a full frame digital camera in the final development
process. But buy the M8 now so we have the funds to finish work on the M9."
So they misdirected, and lied a bit. It is standard business practice to let
customer believe that the current products are the best of all products in
this best of all worlds.
If you don't believe that Leica strongly implied that a full frame Leica
digital was impossible, check the LUG archives of a few years back.
Remember that I am not knocking the M9 as an excellent camera. I wish I had
one. But it is not the be all and end all of photographic instruments. Leica
has, through its design approach, mandated that customers will have to
replace the entire camera body to realize forthcoming improvements in
technology. That might be OK if the camera body was in the $1000 to $2000
range like the Nikon D300, the Olympus E-3, or the Canon EOS50, but at $7000
a pop it's a bit of a stretch.
Larry Z