[Leica] DMR dead end?

[rdcb37 at dodo.com.au (Rick Dykstra)]

Certainly food for thought.  One thought is, the DMR truly represents 
Leica's commitment to backwards compatibility.  If the manufacturer 
goes completely tits up, just use film!  Try that with a digital from 
Canikonoltashikatax!   Try saying Canikonoltashikatax, late at night.  
:-(

Rick.

On 22/02/2005, at 7:12 PM, David Teo wrote:

> Hi
>
> To me, the DMR is definitely a dead end, factoring in the recent bad 
> financial state of Leica.
>
> Buying a DMR is not the same as buying a new MP today, the latter 
> being almost guaranteed to work for decades to come, dust in 
> viewfinder not withstanding :) Even if Leica goes belly up, there's 
> always DAG or Sherry to give that MP the overhaul it needs to get it 
> working for the next decade or so. Who is going to repair your DMR or 
> service it if Leica goes bust tomorrow? It doesn't help that Leica's 
> history with electronics is suspect at best. Where are you going to 
> get the new firmware updates from?
>
> All of Leica's current digital offerings are made by Panasonic. With 
> the DMR, it is Imacon and Kodak. What if that relationship sours? You 
> will be left with no more improvements to the DMR. Look at Nikon - 
> their sensors come from Sony and they are unable to produce updated 
> versions of their aging D100 nor offer a higher megapixel count D2h. 
> This is very likely a sensor availability problem. Canon, which has 
> inhouse R&D work on their own sensors, is able to produce 4 different 
> sensors within the span of a single year for each of their DSLRs.
>
> All it takes is for Imacon to pull the plug and Leica will be left 
> with no digital future. The future doesn't look too bright. And the 
> continual delay of the release of the DMR is not confidence inspiring.
>
> Btw I'm just wondering, is DAG or Sherry or any of the reputed Leica 
> repair persons training up new apprentices? This would be a good time 
> I think, to train up a new generation of camera repair people 
> specializing in Leica equipment. Provided of course, with the highly 
> educated youngsters today, there are still some of them willing to 
> take up the job :)
>
> ----------
> David Teo
>
>
> On 22-Feb-05, at AM 02:06, B. D. Colen wrote:
>
>> Right...So a brand spanking new, state-of-today's-art, high speed, 8 
>> mpg
>> autofocus DSLR built for service in Iraq and Afganistan, with a 1.3
>> magnification factor - oh, that will take R lenses - from a very 
>> healthy
>> manufacturer for under $4K, v. a $4K+ digital BACK for a manual SLR 
>> from
>> a manufacturer who may not be around tomorrow? Buy up Ms and Rs while
>> you can? Sure. But DMR? That makes a great deal of sense - only to
>> someone with Red Dots where their eyes, heart, and brain are supposed 
>> to
>> be. ;-)
>
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