Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/02/13
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]B.D. First, the following rant is frustration that we will probably lose another camera maker that can not keep up. So far Leica has not abandoned their lens line. Olympus did. That was my take on Mark's comments. With Pentax, Nikon, Canon, and now Minolta I can use all the old AF lenses with very few restrictions. Olympus forces you to buy new lenses if you want full compatibility. Most of us have far more money tied up in glass than in bodies, so adding a body to get new capabilities makes sense. Changing systems and losing abilities does not make sense. Therefore the other major camera companies provide a route to buy into their system that works for most people. Even on the low end of the market, with the other brands you can add a lens from and independent manufacturer if you want. The Sigma lenses for the Olympus are rather scarce currently. If Olympus can not keep the new generations coming quicker, then they will lose the digital wars. Even Nikon is in danger of losing if the D2h doesn't ship promptly and in quantity. Should Nikon do the usual and start shipping at the end of February in drips and drabs then even more people will switch to the C brand. If Olympus can not get a 10MP camera out that functions at high ISO's this year, then they will be behind even Leica. Rumor is that Canon will introduce a 8MP digital Rebel at under $1000 with lens. Good looking images at 3200 ISO. Do you have any idea how much money Canon makes on each and every Rebel they make? It is truly amazing to me that the price point(down as low as $799 at Christmas) has held up. In the Atlanta market there is only one store that sells the E-1. They were quite proud of the fact that they sold 10 or 12 during the holiday season. The local Ritz/Wolf chain has 90 stores in the area and sold thousands of D-70's and digital Rebels. Checking the market position of the P&S digital, Olympus is not in the top 4 (Canon, Sony, Kodak, Nikon). If the Olympus organization does not get on the ball we may see the loss of another camera company in five years: my bet is that Olympus and Minolta are out of the serious camera business in five years. I will say this to rub salt in the wound, if the Leica P&S with a 28-90 lens can produce as good an image as the E-1, what future does Olympus have? Don dorysrus@mindspring.com -----Original Message----- From: lug-bounces+dorysrus=mindspring.com@leica-users.org [mailto:lug-bounces+dorysrus=mindspring.com@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of B. D. Colen Sent: Sunday, February 13, 2005 9:43 AM To: 'Leica Users Group' Subject: RE: [Leica] Interview re. Leica-Olympus-Panasonic manage Ah, Mark, Mark, Mark