Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/12/20
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]
- --============_-1234812528==_ma============
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed"
Dear Friends of Leica, (and Hermes)
The recent flurry of speculation fuelled by the appearance of an
'R9d' on a Frence web site must be taken in all seriousness, despite
the release date being April Fool's Day 2001. Allow me to explain.
When questioned by the press, a spokesman at Solms said: "R9? Ah,
nein!!" Despite the blunt denial, we can infer what this statement
conceals by a close study of Leica's own promotional literature.
Please turn to page 33 of the recent brochure 'Leica. The Program',
where a picture shows prototype models in the development of the R8.
Note the early, primitive shapes in the evolutionary stages leading
to the final incarnation of the R8. Note further that these are all
black and of very solid appearance. Now comes the evolutionary leap -
a white, semi-transparent form indicating an utterly new and
revolutionary step. The logic is inescapable. Leica technicians are
in process of developing a fully transparent single lens reflex
camera, but they deflected attention by releasing the R8 to protect
their revenue stream.
This new 'stealth' camera inaugurates the second revolution in
photojournalism, just as the first LTM model did nearly a century
ago. The advantages are too many to enumerate, but we can note the
following:
1 No viewfinder reduction necessary - unobstructed view *through* the
body using both eyes,
2 Unintrusive in use - the photographer appears to be scratching
his/her eyebrow,
3 No more camera envy - no one knows the user is holding a Leica,
4 Renders the black vs chrome debate irrelevent,
5 Invisible to thieves - black taping now obsolete,
6 Colour co-ordinates with anything Hermes can dream up.
There will of course be no release date. The camera will go quietly
on sale to the military and security forces only, but it is very
likely they will screw up and some orders will not be delivered (as
with the M2 (KS15-4) for the US Army) and will find their way onto
the consumer market. But the point is that no one will know if you
actually have one! And what is more, it may even be out there now!!
Merry Christmas everyone!
Nick ;-)
- --============_-1234812528==_ma============
Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii"
<!doctype html public "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN">
<html><head><style type="text/css"><!--
blockquote, dl, ul, ol, li { margin-top: 0 ; margin-bottom: 0 }
--></style><title>R9d and the future</title></head><body>
<div>Dear Friends of Leica, (and Hermes)</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The recent flurry of speculation fuelled by the appearance of an
'R9d' on a Frence web site must be taken in all seriousness, despite
the release date being April Fool's Day 2001. Allow me to
explain.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>When questioned by the press, a spokesman at Solms said:
"R9? Ah, nein!!" Despite the blunt denial, we can infer what
this statement conceals by a close study of Leica's own promotional
literature. Please turn to page 33 of the recent brochure
'Leica. The Program', where a picture shows prototype models in the
development of the R8. Note the early, primitive shapes in the
evolutionary stages leading to the final incarnation of the R8. Note
further that these are all black and of very solid appearance. Now
comes the evolutionary leap - a white, semi-transparent form
indicating an utterly new and revolutionary step. The logic is
inescapable. Leica technicians are in process of developing a fully
transparent single lens reflex camera, but they deflected attention by
releasing the R8 to protect their revenue stream.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>This new 'stealth' camera inaugurates the second revolution in
photojournalism, just as the first LTM model did nearly a century ago.
The advantages are too many to enumerate, but we can note the
following:</div>
<blockquote>1 No viewfinder reduction necessary - unobstructed view
*through* the body using both eyes,</blockquote>
<blockquote>2 Unintrusive in use - the photographer appears to
be scratching his/her eyebrow,</blockquote>
<blockquote>3 No more camera envy - no one knows the user is holding a
Leica,</blockquote>
<blockquote>4 Renders the black vs chrome debate
irrelevent,</blockquote>
<blockquote>5 Invisible to thieves - black taping now
obsolete,</blockquote>
<blockquote>6 Colour co-ordinates with anything Hermes can dream
up.</blockquote>
<div><br></div>
<div>There will of course be no release date. The camera will go
quietly on sale to the military and security forces only, but it is
very likely they will screw up and some orders will not be delivered
(as with the M2 (KS15-4) for the US Army) and will find their way onto
the consumer market. But the point is that no one will know if you
actually have one! And what is more, it may even be out there
now!!</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Merry Christmas everyone!</div>
<div>Nick ;-)</div>
</body>
</html>
- --============_-1234812528==_ma============--