Leica Fires their Chairman

[PHOTOTONE]

Anyway enough discussion of digital problems, let the digital sites deal with this stuff. I just hated to see digital pull Leica down.

I see this just the opposite. By creating a digital version of the classic rangefinder, Leica are extending and expanding the classic Leica image, and can generate a revenue stream that can help support the film based cameras they still produce. It also helps ensure the continued availability of great Leica lenses. Plenty of working photographers "have" to use digital because their clients demand it, so to get work, you have to do what the client wants.

 

[keithwms]

I see this just the opposite. By creating a digital version of the classic rangefinder, Leica are extending and expanding the classic Leica image, and can generate a revenue stream that can help support the film based cameras they still produce. It also helps ensure the continued availability of great Leica lenses. Plenty of working photographers "have" to use digital because their clients demand it, so to get work, you have to do what the client wants.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-digital by any means, I simply think this camera wasn't the right way for Leica to go and sincerely hope that it wasn't too costly to their reputation and their finances. I do wish them well and if their next DRF were to my liking, I would consider it.

 

[snegron]

For those of you doubting the quality of the Leica M8 you may wish to read this article by Dick Arentz published in Range Finder magazine.

http://www.rangefindermag.com/magazine/Jan08/86.pdf

As it happened I shot an M8 today and it is a terrific camera, so I don't think Leica has mis-stepped here.

Leicas are expensive instruments, and have always had a limited market due to that expense. But the Leicaphile knows what non Leica users don't; the cameras produce distinctive looking images and the quality of their products are unsurpassed in many ways. Their are no MF range finder cameras, other than the Mamiya 7, that can really hold a candle to the quality that the Leica glass and cameras can produce and this quality extends equally well to the M8.

IMO, the M8 will be a success, in as much as any Leica RF can be. IOW, not everyone will be wearing them but those that can afford the Leica will find their investment worth while and rewarding.

Very good reasoning based on the history of film and camera manufacturers, but I see a glitch. Other than the R module and a few point and shoot ventures with Panasonic, Leica is far behind the digital times compared to the big boys like Nikon and Canon. Nowadays it's not about the money and exclusivity that having a small Leica around your neck carried. There are less expensive and much more expensive outfits out there that produce stunning images. I have seen Uncle Bob at the local zoo carrying around a Canon 1D Mark II with a 70-200mm 2.8 IS-L and a 300mm 2.8 IS-L in the bag. Just when I thought he was the only one with high end gear, I turned around and saw a bunch of others with "cheaper" 5D's and Nikon D2X's, etc.

Nowadays if you want a "showey" camera, Nikon and Canon have plenty to choose from. If you want outstanding image quality, Nikon, Canon, and others are there as well. It takes more than just good optics to capture really good digital images. The image sensor is equally important. With all the technology today (Nikon producing some type of nano crystal coating and ultra sharp lenses), many camera and lensmakers can produce outstanding optics. In the digital world it is now truely the camera you carry that makes the difference in terms of image quality.

I'm sure that Leica will catch up, maybe even surpass the big boys some day. Maybe with the M9...

 

[jd callow]

Nikon and canon don't make a rangefinder and some find that when using it within its strengths nothing comapres to a RF -- I know I do.