Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/08/30
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Now I've read the Leica explanation why a digital M can't happen. I'm not up on all the technology here but I think I understand the explanation. But, speaking as a view/rangerfinder Leica lover, I hate to say it, but the Leica response sounds inadequate. Nikon, having developed a professional digital SLR camera, already is marketing one aimed at the amateur market. Leica is producing what is essentially a high level p&s digital camera, a very good one in my view but still not adequate. A digital R camera might make up some lost ground to Nikon, Canon and Contax but ultimately won't satisfy people like me who love the M-viewfinder. It seems to me that Leica needs to use more imagination. If a digital M using current lenses is not possible now, what is? How about a Digilux II that has the M viewfinder with a lens that works like the Tri-Elmar, by that I mean a lens with several focal-length settings instead of a continous zoom. With the current Digilux lens, that would mean settings and viewfinder frames for 33mm, 50mm and 100mm focal lengths. Personally, I'd prefer a 28-85 range (28, 50 and 85 frame lines in the viewfinder). The viewfinder would have all the exposure information displayed in the viewfinder as with the M7, not on the monitor as with the Digilux I. Manual and aperture priority modes and settings would need to be accessible without turning on the power-draining monitor. And it should be 6 mp camera. A more radical solution of course would be to develop a digital view/rangefinder body with its own set of interchangeable lenses to deal with the issue of the digital light sensor. That might be too much for a small company like Leica, but perhaps there's a partner for that kind of project. My point is that it seems to me that photography has entered a period like the early 1960s that saw the SLR revolution. I think it's fair to say Leitz reacted slowly then and suffered for it. As I said in an earlier posting, photographers at my newspaper had to stop using M6s when the paper closed its darkroom and went digital. I think it's vital for Leica and the rangerfinder camera tradition for Leica to offer an alternative to the digital SLRs that are starting to penetrate the amateur market. Steve __________________________________________________________________ The NEW Netscape 7.0 browser is now available. Upgrade now! http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/download.jsp Get your own FREE, personal Netscape Mail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com/ - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html