Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/03/03
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Didn't Contax produce the first full frame DSLR, years before anyone else? Obviously it wasn't a smashing success. feli > D > >> How come? Is every premium lens and camera brand >> up the proverbial creek without a paddle? I'm a newbie. >> How did this come to be? > > How? Simple - most of them have become victims of their own hubris. > > About two years ago or so, most of these companies (in addition to some > of the film companies) seemed to feel they had maybe 5-8 years before > digital photography made really serious inroads into their markets. And > either because they truly were caught by surprise, or from wilful > denial > (probably a combination of both in varying degrees) they failed to > predict how very fast digital was changing things. Even when the > evidence was there for those with eyes to see. That point, which they > thought was 5-8 years away arrived in about two years. > > As a result they failed to adapt - either by partnering with someone > who > was in tune with the coming changes or doing the (radical) work needed > to adapt themselves. In fact it isn't so much a change as a revolution > in the way photography is done in both consumer and professional work. > I > forget the exact figures, but Kodak for example, was caught out last > year by something like a 40% change in film use when they had been > predicting 5-10%. Ilford all but went under because they were still > massively overproducing film products. > > Leica clearly failed to adapt fast enough and isntead seems to have > relied on a "we've weathered these things before - SLR's, autofocus etc > etc - we'll weather it again. Which is a bit like typewriter > manufacturers in the late 80's early 90's believing their will still be > a worldwide market for typewriters by the mid 90's. And even that > analogy is out, because the revolution has taken place far faster than > that changeover. > > Leica is still stuck trying to produce what can only be characterised > as > "the last digital SLR in the world" which has still yet to really see > the light of day. Never mind the digital M. Whereas anyone who has been > in tune with the rapid change in the market has been producing their > digi SLR's for a few years now. And even the alternate digital M is out > there. > > Simply put, you snooze you lose. And these manufacturers who are now in > trouble or closing down their camera production lines were asleep at > the > wheel (or such cameras weren't the main focus of their business by that > point anyway - like Contax). > > > tim a > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > > ________________________________________________________ feli2@earthlink.net 2 + 2 = 4 www.elanphotos.com