[Leica] digital M

[locke at straylight.ca (Greg Locke)]

There is nothing special about electronics manufacturing.  IT'S CHEAP!
...its about volume.
Good glass is what's expensive.

The engineering exercise is making it look and work like an M in an effort
to keep people like us happy.

Remember how bad the Kodak/Nikon/AP NC2000 was?  ...and all the other "add
on" digital cameras (at prices up to $30,000) until the latest generation.
They were horrid cameras.

The Digilux 2 is a good "test" but its obvious it was a bit of a rushed
effort and no one bothered to ask any professionals about what's important
for making quality digital images in the most efficient manner.

IE: view finder
    frame buffer
    that REAL ANNOYING noise reduction that can't be turned off
    6+ megapixels

I WANTED a Digilux 2 and could use it but sadly...it's lacking. It COULD
have been the digital M if they wanted it to be.

I'm always amazed at the choices "brilliant" engineering minds make that
leave us "laymen" scratching our heads.

It's called MARKET RESEARCH!!  What do people WANT or need.

While there are certainly those who will buy anything with a Leica badge on
it (and Leica is more than aware of this) some of us actually need to make
use of a camera.   If it doesn't "work" then there is no point.

Right now, you can buy a decent 6+ megapixel camera for less than $2000.00
(Nikon D100). You can get a "professional" digital SLR (D1x) for under
$5000.00. 

This is the target. That is where the market is.

If Leica wants to make a impact beyond an expensive esoteric point & shoot
they should be looking at producing a digital version of the M7 with 6-8
megapixels (what ever is do-able when they get around to it), a proper frame
buffer and RAW image processing in the $3000-$4000.00 range.

It can't be THAT hard. Nikon and Canon have been doing it for a couple of
years now.

...and one important thing I've discovered is the functionality of the
software.
Nikonview 6 and Nikon Capture 4 are great software packages that come with
the Nikon digital cameras.

The software that came with a friends Canon professional digital cameras
SUCK!!!  Totally useless!
The same is true for the interface software that came with my otherwise
WONDERFUL Canon film scanner.

The lesson to the digital imaging manufactures is;  you may have a great
hardware product but if the software and user interface is not logical and
intuitive then you have done yourself a disservice and turned people away
from your great product.

...and that's a digital rant from someone who has been using digital cameras
since the DCS 460 and NC2000

To paraphrase my 10 year old daughter...

Film rules
Digital drools


Greg Locke
St. John's, Newfoundland
www.greglocke.com

 ----JUST RELEASED-------

NEWFOUNDLAND ...journey into a lost nation
by Greg Locke and Michael Crummey
McClelland and Stewart
ISBN # 0-7710-6142-0
www.straylight.ca/newfoundland 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: lug-bounces+locke=straylight.ca@leica-users.org 
> [mailto:lug-bounces+locke=straylight.ca@leica-users.org] On 
> Behalf Of Nathan Wajsman
> Sent: Sunday, June 06, 2004 2:38 AM
> To: Leica Users Group
> Subject: Re: [Leica] digital M
> 
> Guys,
> 
> They may make 10,000 as the first batch to test the market 
> and maybe justify a high price, but you can be sure that if 
> that batch flies off the dealers' shelves, and the 
> distribution channels are screaming for more, then more will 
> be made. We are not talking about the Leica 2.8/70-180mm 
> which had to be made of special glass blessed by virgins in 
> the Black Forest under a full moon; this is manufacturing of 
> an electronic item, and it should be no more difficult to 
> make 100,000 than it is to make 10,000. It is all a matter of 
> economics.
> 
> Nathan