Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/07/31
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]In a message dated 7/31/02 4:34:02 AM Eastern Daylight Time, DFangon@aol.com writes: > There is a price differential to pay for every > improvement that comes along, Leica products included. If we are to reject > an improved product because it is more expensive than the item it replaces, > where will Leica or any other company end up in the long run? > Hello Dante! There are improvements and there are improvements. Unquestionably today Leica is striving to introduce cameras and lenses that perform better than the Leica products they replace. It must also be said that manufacturers will sometimes introduce successor products because there is a changed perception of what performance the market demands or because they are cheaper to manufacture and offer equivalent or almost equivalent performance. Over 20 years ago I wrote to Leitz inquiring about the comparative performance of the DR Summicron and the successor lens. Here is a verbatim quote from the answering letter of Mr. Kurt Otto, dated 24 January 1980: "Comparison of different lenses is always difficult. New lenses are in fact always 'improvements' over older predecessors, but this will affect not only the image quality but in some cases mechanical properties (e.g. weight, size, number of air-glass surfaces etc.).So it is not surprising to hear that some users will prefer older designs (with respect to image quality) and declare the new type 'not (significantly) improved' compared to the older version." Delicate and tactful and delightfully forthright. Your last sentence above gives me pause. We do not "reject" a new product by deciding to buy an old one, whether the reason for the decision is price or because we prefer the optical rendition of the older lens or the impression of its build quality. And while many will of course buy the new product for their own reasons regardless of price, it strikes me as odd to imply that we have an obligation to keep Leica in business by spurning the old and buying the new. I'm sure you didn't mean it that way. Best, Seth LaK 9 - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html