Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/05/12
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Glad to hear it Greg. Seems it would be courteous to respond. > Hi Seth, > > I'm not so sure that someone in management at Leica wasn't paying > attention. A local dealer here told me that Leica management informed > him last year that they were considering doing with their cameras just > what you suggested. > > Regards, > > Greg > > Seth Rosner wrote: > > >All of this stuff about M features and what should and shouldn't be on the > >new M10 - oh no, that's a tank - prompts me to describe a letter I wrote to > >Herr Cohn a few years ago, shortly after he became Leica CEO. > > > >As I may have mentioned here, I've been a business lawyer for over 45 years > >and in the process have worked with some very fine, imaginative and > >enterprenurial corporate executives. > > > >I suggested to Herr Cohn that Leica consider offering buyers the opportunity > >to order M6 cameras with whatever features the customer wished, i.e., > >classic or TTL, 0.58, 0.72, or 0.85 viewfinders, black or silver finish, > >meter or meterless and pay only for the features they order. > > > >Inasmuch as a major cost of any manufactured item, especially one with a > >relatively small production run, is tooling, all of which Leica already had, > >and since we are not talking about an item of which millions are made each > >year, I did not believe it would add enormously to cost to set up the > >production line in such a way that Leica factory workers could build a > >camera to order. > > > >Apart from being hugely satisfying to the Leica user, this would have had > >the additional benefit of reducing on-hand inventory in the hands of the > >factory, the distributors and the dealers. > > > >Helas! I never had a response from the gentleman. > > > >Seth LaK 9 > > > >----- Original Message ----- > >From: "Jim Shulman" <garcia@chesco.com> > >To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us> > >Sent: Saturday, May 10, 2003 11:55 PM > >Subject: RE: [Leica] word on the street - changes to MP already! > > > > > >>Usefulness really isn't the basis for the new MP: it's nostalgia for the > >>first generation of M cameras. The rewind knob, all-metal wind lever, > >>and small shutter speed dial are all cute affectations designed for > >>those of us who are still nuts about the 1954 M3 and its immediate > >>successors. After all, if Leica had just wanted to offer a manual M > >>camera, it would have been much easier to have stuck with the M7 body > >>and simply gone without AE, returning to the TTL-type manual shutter > >>arrangement of the last M6 cameras (and likely at a lower price than the > >>standard M7--though perhaps that niche has been satisfied with the Bessa > >>R2?)The new MP shutter speed dial is just perfect as it is--consistent > >>with the rest of the camera's 1950s appearance. My only quibble with the > >>MP is that it should really have traditional vulcanite (as the limited > >>edition Japanese version does!) > >> > >>If a photographer wants a Leica with useful modern features and great > >>build quality, with the bigger shutter speed dial that matches the R's > >>rotation, rewind crank, plastic-tipped wind lever, and option for AE or > >>manual exposure, there's the M7. With the MP, you pay a little more > >>money for fewer useful features. On the other hand, the MP is the > >>closest thing we have to a classic all-mechanical Leica with a BTL meter > >>and modern viewfinder. They're both incredibly nice cameras, but from > >>two distinctly different approaches. > >> > >>My question to Leica remains: now that you made a great retro camera > >>just right, why screw it up? If the MP doesn't sell, just get rid of it > >>and introduce something else, perhaps an all-manual M7, or even a > >>meterless M camera. > >> > >>Jim Shulman > >>Bryn Mawr, PA > >> > >> > >>-----Original Message----- > >>From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us > >>[mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us] On Behalf Of Mark > >>Rabiner > >>Sent: Saturday, May 10, 2003 11:01 PM > >>To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us > >>Subject: Re: [Leica] word on the street - changes to MP already! > >> > >>Jim Shulman wrote: > >> > >>>Doesn't sound right to me--Leica obviously went to a great deal of > >>>trouble creating an M2/3-manque camera with modern viewfinder and > >>> > >>meter. > >> > >>>Why would they want to spoil the effect with the wrong shutter speed > >>>dial--one of the very elements that gives the camera its charm? If > >>> > >>they > >> > >>>were to do that, I think they'd have a lot of unsold $2600 cameras in > >>>the warehouse. > >>> > >>>J > >>> > >>Which are the elements which give the MP it's charm and which are the > >>elements which take away from it's functionality. > >>Some mileages differ. I happen to like the bigger knob turning the same > >>direction as the R series and I have serious reservations about the > >>rewind mechanism. The point though is which features get deemed good and > >>bad, stays and goes, we hope by it's usefulness. Not cuteness > >> > >> > >> > >>Mark Rabiner > >>Portland, Oregon USA > >>http://www.rabinergroup.com > >>-- > >>To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html > >> > >>-- > >>To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html > >> > > > >-- > >To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html > > > > > > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html