Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/02/28
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]According to Jem Kime's '00 Photokina LUG meeting report (10/2/00), Tom A. asked Leica about making lenses in other mounts. Leica's response was: "Yes, we have considered selling our lenses for other cameras, mounted for Nikon, Canon etc. but other manufacturers have categorically said 'No'." Interesting that NiCanoltax don't have a problem with Tamron, Tokina, Cosina, Sigma and who knows else, but evidently do have a problem with Leica. I don't know how all the lensmount intellectual property issues work----what's patented, what's not, what needs to be licensed, etc, or whether the aftermarket companies even need permission or cooperation. Leica could be perceived as a bigger threat than the aftermarket guys, who (IMHO) offer mostly lower-cost, less-deluxe alternatives. Even if aftermarket sales siphon off more potential lens sales than Leica glass would, image-wise it might hurt more if, for example, Canon users passed over L-series offerings for Leica lenses. There's also the question of whether Leica could produce autofocus lenses, and/or whether high-end Nicanoltax users would buy a Nicanoltax-mount Leica lens if it was manual focus. Regards, PB On Thu, 28 Feb 2002 14:28:46 -0500, in response to this post: >If Leica ever decides to make SLR lenses with Nikon mounts they would >make a fortune. > >Regards, > >Greg "B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net> wrote: >Don't know about making a fortune...But I have long wondered why they don't >do just that...I would imagine that the demand for the 80 1.4, 100 and 60 >macros, if for no other lenses, would be quite strong. > >B. D. Paul C. Brodek Hillsdale, N.J. U.S.A. E-mail: pcb@skyweb.net - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html