Re: [Leica] Features or basics

["Dan S" <dstate1@hotmail.com>]

Regarding Erwins comments below:

It seems easy for many to forget that Leica is a SMALL company...So small 
that I actually find it amazing how much they actually achieve in a world of 
corporate giants.

I don't see Canon, Nikon or any other manufacturer making nearly the changes 
to their product line that Leica has made over the last 6 years...New 
lenses, new SLRs,new versions of the M, new professional and amateur digital 
cameras, new accessories, new compact cameras, a new line of quality slide 
projectors and a new and costly promotional campaign, all on a budget and 
staff size that is miniscule compared to the competition.

The final determination of who is right or wrong about the direction of 
Leica will be the financial bottom line.  If the company prospers they will 
be proven right.

As for the perceived lack of "features" on the  M system.  Most of this is 
just gadget geek wish listing.  None of it has anything to do with actual 
ability to create quality photography.  Indeed if product features were the 
determinate of photographic quality wouldn't the meduim be at it's zenith 
now?  One could HARDLY say that this is the golden age of quality 
photography...so what are our excuses? Id say from the list above that the 
lack of equipment is not the problem.
>
Best Wishes
Dan States
Madison WI






>There are currently a number of diatribes on this list and its companion
>(the LEG) about the lack of features of M cameras, the price level as it is
>and compared to delivered engineering quality, the loss of manufacturing
>quality as compared to previous models and so on. And of course the elusive
>topic of 'bad management' as "they' do not produce what 'we' want and
>demand.
>I have no intention to even try to start to argue about any of these 
>topics,
>as this excercise in debating technique will end in a void, as past
>experiences have clearly demonstrated.
>Instead I wish to discuss these topics from another perspective, that is
>shifting away from the focus of features or gadgets and concentrate on
>results and satisfaction.
>The primary argument for buying a (new) M body, in my view, is the result
>expected from this tool. You want to take photographs and you select from a
>vast range of products the m-body as you are convinced that this camera has
>the characteristics and means to deliver. After a while you look at the
>pictures and you are satisfied. Fine. Period. You obviously do not need
>additional features.  The tool occasionally lets you down? You have it
>fixed. Another problem? You are obviously no longer satisfied and you buy
>another product. Why? Because the M does not deliver!
>Now you are not satisfied with your pictures. Is it because your talent and
>technique lets you down? Do not blame the camera. Blame yourself and
>improve! You are certain the lack of features (AF, AE, flare in the finder,
>inaccurate shutter) are the cause? Buy another camera with the features you
>need.
>You are able to get as good a picture with Canon SLR AF etc and an M? But
>you like the mechanical feel of the M and are sensitive to its heritage and
>tradition. Buy an M.
>You assume Canon is the better deal. By all means, buy one and Be 
>Satisfied.
>You think that the current M 0.58 does not offer enough of what you need? 
>Do
>not buy it. But do not blame the management for producing it. Their goal 
>may
>be completely different from yours.
>You think these guys in Solms are nuts because they offer a Null-series
>instead of a M body with more electronics? Do you know their long term 
>plans
>and their market?
>A Null-series camera is most obviously not targeted at the sports reporter
>for the Olympics. It is for the person who wishes to rediscover the style 
>of
>photography of the early twenties and is fascinated by it. It makes sense 
>to
>manufacture a camera body that forces one to do some thinking before making
>a picture. If that is your style of photography? No! Fine, than the
>Null-series is not for you!
>The lens of the Null-Series delivers performance that will challenge many
>Leica users and the functions are very basic. Compare it to biking? Why buy
>a Cannondale at $3000 and kill your body in trying to get over the hill
>while doing all the work yourself, when a second hand Suzuki jeep for the
>same price can do it without effort?
>It is a matter of style, philosophy and approach!
>The M and R systems have a set of advantages and disadvantages, which are
>benificial or detrimental to your type of picture taking. Choose carefully
>as the products are expensive. Too expensive for you: do not buy it. It is
>as simple as this.
>Reading all these diatribes, I must assume that those leica users are
>dissatisfied and dissappointed users of leica equipment. Please: sell it 
>and
>buy products you really like!
>I know the answer of course: consumers may and even have a duty in
>delivering constructive comments and critique. Agreed. But what I see here
>is not a comment on the products as they are, but a wish list of what leica
>should try to develop, as seen by five or so individuals.
>I wonder why some people assume Leica has no direction, no imagination  and
>no plan and no feeling with their market, just because the company does not
>produce a hexar with a red dot?
>Maybe they are to clever to do just that!
>The M 0.58 is a fine instrument for a number of photographers and the
>Null-series is a fine product for persons who can and are willing to
>rediscover and re-create the roots of photography. Both do not appeal to
>you? Invest your money elsewhere!
>Erwin
>

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