[Leica] Leica R8 brick (millstone?)

["Emanuel Lowi" <mano@proxyma.net>]

Hans-Peter Lammerich wrote:

"To some extend, the R8 resembles the history of the M5. The customers did not 
like the additional bulk and shape in comparison to the classic M body. Leica 
then discontinued the M5, re-issued the M4 and customers had to wait for the M6, 
until Leica was able to find a supplier for the TTL device who could 
economically design and manufacture for a small production number and who was 
able to shoehorn the device into the classic M body."

H-PL - have you hooked those thoughts right out of my brain today? I have often
thought that the R8 is the M5 redux.

But do not misconstrue: unlike your feelings for the R8, I LOVE the M5. It is a great
camera designed with ergonomic genius, high precision and some special features that
mark it as unique in the Leica family tree. Yet therein lies its (and the R8's)
problem: it is an odd-looking evolutionary dead-end, shaped without respect for
Leica's traditional qualities and probably without much thought about where the
design might lead, if anywhere. This is what is so worrisome again today.

The M5 marketplace failure probably endangered Leitz Wetzlar's viability more than we
know. I bet Cohn has the smarts to prevent the same from happening all over again to
Solms because of the R8. 

Barnack made Leica's reputation by designing a S-M-A-L-L camera, remember?

It is worth noting, however, that  25 years after production was cancelled, the M5
has won over a whole new generation of buyers who recognize its unusual virtues.
Prices for nice M5 bodies are now equal to (or higher than) prices for an M6 in
equivalent condition. The tale was quite different just a few years ago.

Perhaps the wiser youngsters of today will be hunting down R8 cameras sometime after
2020!

Emanuel Lowi
Montreal