Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/05/04
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]This R9 thing is just yet another rumour, up to now. Funny how these things build up from a casual, probably tongue in cheek, statement from an obscure Kansas dealer who, in no way, has access to such strategic items of information. Blindly and repeatedly relayed on the Net, this suddenly becomes some kind of 'information' The distribution networks do not get informed about such things till the very last minute. So, unless Leica is planning that major launch in the coming 3 weeks, there is no way they are going to sabotage further their R8 sales by demotivating their resellers from this product and provoking a suspension of buying decisions from their user base. Especially on the eve of the pre-summer holydays buying period. Till reliable info gets posted, this Minolta R9 agitation ought to be considered as plain noise. That should not forbid the intellectual exercise of examining what the potential consequences of this unlikely product would be: The Minolta 9 implies AF motor in body and a very particular electro-mechanical management of the iris. So, this also implies a totally different design for the lenses (no aperture ring, undampened and lightweight barrels managed through an AF shaft, etc) and probable fundamental incompatibilities with the current R system. A modification of the Minolta bayonet to make it physically compatible with the R is easy (if the distance to film is the same for Minolta AF and Leica R. Is it ?), but one would have to work at real aperture with current R lenses, and one would loose most of the automation advantages of the Minolta 9. To get around this, the fantasized Minolta/Leica partnership would have to redesign the Minolta 9 system in order to reintroduce complex R-compatible mechanical links between lens and body, and insure management of those links by a redesigned electronic system. This, added to the redesign and manufacturing of a complete range of backward incompatible Leica AF lenses, seems to me to be way above the financial and marketing capabilities of Minolta and/or Leica. An eventual AF R9 would have to be based on a Leica design, considered as a new development of the R architecture, insuring fundamantal compatibility with the current R line of lenses (all but AF for example). Any other choice would be a catastrophy for current R users, and would alienate most of them in the future. That camera could borrow 'missing' elements from ANY current Japanese manufacturer or other third parties for economies of scale in the development effort (AF sensors and electronics, body motors, eventual lens motors, etc). The manufacturing of the body could also easily be outsourced to any of them, if ever the quantities are worthwhile for the retooling of production chains. If Leica chooses not to go the Contax AX way, the lenses would have to be fundamentally redesigned, and would have to use much lighter materials than the current line. Those lenses would therefore have to be manufactured elsewhere as well, with a deal à la Zeiss/Kyocera. All in all, such an initiative would mean a fundamental change of policy for Leica, but could be successful, if the user base is ready for a complete range of polycarbonate Leica R lenses made somewhere in Asia. Is it ? Another option would be for a Japanese manufacturer to propose a 'super-pro' line of lenses, badged Leica and based on Leica optical designs and specifications, then sold at a premium price (like the Yashica + Zeiss lines of Y/C equipment). Leica would cash on the licences. A third way would be for Leica to follow the Angenieux path of the Eighties with a line of multi-platform lenses, manufactured by a third party according to Leica designs and specifications. The cognoscenti's Sigma. The two latter options would not necessarily prevent the current R architecture from living its peaceful life in its marginal niche, to the great satisfaction of the current and future fans of high-end luxurious craftsmanship... Simply borrowing the Minolta 9, as it is, as basis of a R9 project, would be suicidal. Alan On mercredi 5 mai 1999 4:29, Eric Welch [SMTP:ewelch@ponyexpress.net] wrote: > At 01:25 PM 5/4/99 -0400, you wrote: > >I don't think there is any source whatsoever, apart from idle speculation I > >saw on the LUG a few days ago. > > I got it from a Leica dealer who was hosting a Leica days. C&J Photo in > Overland Park, Kansas. > > Eric Welch > St. Joseph, MO > http://www.ponyexpress.net/~ewelch > > Why do they put Braille on the drive-through bank machines?