Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/06/23
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Eric wrote - >Jeff, there were people (person?) on this list a couple weeks ago who >questioned whether it was real or not. I had no doubt. >- -- Eric, It was I who doubted, not the existence, but the production of the S1 which after being announced some time ago - last year I recall - took a long time to get to market and was doubted by some of Leica's distributors no less as a production item. If it is now in the stores well I suppose that is great news for some: though my other point at the time was that it was not so great for typical Leica users since it is aimed at an entirely different market (i.e. studio digital) which is already well catered for by better established companies in that field (such as Sinar). Do you, any other LUGGER or anyone anyone here knows plan to buy an S1? Can't imagine even the most enthusiastic collector would spring for one. Whilst the specs do look impressive for the S1 it seems an odd and IMHO ill-advised move on the part of Leica to be devoting precious resources to such a product when IMHO they would be better spent fixing their core lines such as M (which needs, in economic if not photographic terms an update) and the R line - motor drive, amongst other items. It seems that the great tradition of Leica enlargers and obscure accessories has been dropped, to please the shareholders, whilst the trendy high-risk field of digital has been embarked upon by a company that is poorly positioned to take a leading role in this capital-intensive line. It seems to be an overly expensive and risky diversion for Leica which is not so financially secure as you suggest: their growth markets (principally Asia) have been pretty much wiped out and they have been losing market share amongst professionals for decades now - just check the annual report figures. For a company whose cachet depends to a very large extent on their core products professional excellence this is alarming. Just my 2 cents Adrian Adrian Bradshaw Photojournalist Shanghai, China