Re: [Leica] R8/R9 Digital Back announced

[Simon Lamb <simon@sclamb.com>]

On 25/6/03 17:02, "Martin Howard" <mvhoward@mac.com> wrote:

> Karen Nakamura wrote:
> 
>> So Leica has announced their digital back for the R8/R9 system:
>> 
>> http://www.leica-camera.com/produkte/rsystem/digitalmodul/index_e.html
>> 
>> Sounds quite interesting!
> 
> $5,200 for a 10MP reduced-frame digital back, that requires a $2,000
> camera to work, and that won't be available for another 16 months.
> Interesting!??
> 
> Let's put this in perspective: Moore's Law operates on an 18 month
> cycle.  The Canon EOS1D was a full-frame 11MP camera that came out in
> August 2002 ($7,500 @ B&H).  The Kodak DCS 14n, a 13.7MP camera, the
> same month ($4,995 @ B&H).  There is a PMA Imaging Conference & Mini
> Trade Show in September of this year, and the PMA Annual 2004 is in
> February.
> 
> The only possibly interesting thing about this is the technical
> achievement of grafting a digital back to an existing film camera,
> while allowing its use as either by switching back and forth.  But in
> the Real World, the question is how interesting is that?  Especially
> when you take those $5,200 into consideration.
> 
> It's perfectly Leica, of course.  It's the digital Visoflex answer to a
> world of Japanese SLRs.  Too little, too late.
> 
> M.

I often wonder whether I would still have a company if I made decisions the
way Leica appear to do.  Of course there are enough people with the cash out
there that they will sell this back, and of course everyone will defend it,
much as everyone who owns and uses one defends the Digilux 1, even though it
is 4MP (stated but not real), average image quality and useless above ISO
200.  How does it get justified - by comments such as 'the lens is so fast
that I don't need to go above ISO 100'.  If it was that good then anything
above ISO 100 would not have been put in the camera.

Leica will find their niche with this back and they seem happy to be in that
niche.  It must be great to be able to run a company where you don't need to
be bogged down by thoughts of wanting to take a technological lead.  Of
course, technologically speaking no one has put a digital back on a 35mm
film camera, but then no-one else has needed to.  I could buy a Canon EOS 1V
and a Canon EOS 1DS for the same money and not lose an image because I was
'switching backs'.

Leica should really be English, not German.  It is a bit like the old Rolls
Royce story of a man who asked how many horsepower and how many gears a
Silver Cloud had.  The salesman replied 'sufficient'.  They know they will
sell a car, even if it has twenty year old engine technology .

Long live Leica.  I love my M6 and I love Leica.  They amaze me, they
entertain me and they are so very 'english'!

Simon





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