Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/01/21

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

Subject: [Leica] Doomed: Leica MP 0.58x
From: bdcolen at earthlink.net (B. D. Colen)
Date: Fri Jan 21 10:49:05 2005

Define "soon?" Soon enough to allow a company heading down the financial
crapper to turn itself around? Soon enough to let Leica make up for all
its lost time in digital? 

Would that it were so....

-----Original Message-----
From: lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org
[mailto:lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of
bparsons@jhancock.com
Sent: Friday, January 21, 2005 1:29 PM
To: Leica Users Group
Subject: RE: [Leica] Doomed: Leica MP 0.58x





This is not the problem it appears to be.
Leica is already working with the best sensor makers.
Soon, sensors are going to be commodities. ?Then, the lens will be king.
Leica looks like it can survive until then.

Bill Parsons
601 Congress Street, Boston, MA
617-663-2592
(cell) 617-680-2779
|+------------------------------+---------------------------------------
--|
||   "B. D. Colen"              |
|
||   <bdcolen@earthlink.net>    |   ? ? ? ? To: ? ? ? ?"'Leica Users
|
||   Sent by:                   |   Group'" <lug@leica-users.org>
|
||   lug-bounces+bparsons=jhanco|   ? ? ? ? cc:
|
||   ck.com@leica-users.org     |   ? ? ? ? Subject: ? ? ? ?RE: [Leica]
|
||                              |   Doomed: ?Leica MP 0.58x
|
||   01/21/2005 12:59 PM        |
|
||   Please respond to "Leica   |
|
||   Users Group"               |
|
|+------------------------------+---------------------------------------
--|






Ah, but wouldn't Leica be ahead of the game working out a deal with
Canon, where by Canon would get some sort of licensing fee for each lens
sold in a working Canon mount?

The point is that Leica needs to do SOMETHING if it's going to survive.
Producing an extremely expensive digital backs for an R line that is
already losing money - as wonderful as the cameras may be - isn't going
to be the thing that saves Leica. And, as Frank pointed out, Leica's
reputation lays with it's glass. There has to be a way for them to
capitalize on that.

Why don't they start advertising the glass for use with adapters on
Canon EOS bodies? Use photos and endorsements from life-long Leica
shooters...



-----Original Message-----
From: lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org
[mailto:lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of
Douglas Herr
Sent: Friday, January 21, 2005 12:51 PM
To: Leica Users Group
Subject: Re: [Leica] Doomed: Leica MP 0.58x


> Make the glass fit other cameras, Nikon or Canon, and watch the $$$ 
> flow in.

This has been discussed many times before. ?I dunno about Nikon, but
Canon doesn't want competition for their lens sales. ? A low-end lens
maker can find a niche reverse-engineering the Canon mount and
electronics. ?Sooner or later Canon will find a way to make the
3rd-party lenses incompatible with new bodies. ?People might be willing
to spend a few bucks for a lens that will become a doorstop but I doubt
many would be willing to fork out Leica-like cash for a potential
doorstop.

Leica's alternative is to make the lenses Canon-fit, manual only - which
is exactly what an R lens plus adapter is. ?Why would Leica make manual
lenses that would only fit Canon when an R-mount lens plus adapter would
work just like a Canon-mount manual lens, and could be used on a Leica-R
body as well?

Nikon AIS-mount lenses make much more sense than EOS-mount lenses IMHO,
especially if the lenses are chipped.


Doug Herr
Birdman of Sacramento
http://www.wildlightphoto.com
_______________________________________________
Leica Users Group.
See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information

_______________________________________________
Leica Users Group.
See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information





_______________________________________________
Leica Users Group.
See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information



In reply to: Message from bparsons at jhancock.com (bparsons@jhancock.com) ([Leica] Doomed: Leica MP 0.58x)