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 Re: Leica M8/M9/X1 Picture Thread | |
carstenw wrote:
I have had it since March, but don\'t have so much time to photograph, so it still feels new to me. Each has its own strengths. For the kind of local photography I do, the DSLR is my preferred tool. In fact, the Kodak SLR/n beats out the D3 for some things. For travelling and events, I prefer the M8, except when I need the high ISO of the D3.
Incidentally, I\'ve had my 5DII since March as well, but as I have been photographing like a maniac since, it feels quite old  Well, I\'ve had a 7D for over a year and the 5DII is not all that different (worse camera, better sensor).
You should not underestimate the DSLR refugees. They are for the most part responsible for the Leica boom.
I am not sure where the justification for the second sentence comes from, but I agree with the first one. I am not underestimating the demand for the M9 from such people, but I don\'t think that Leica will cater to them with the M line of cameras.
My justification comes from the Schopf interview. If you subscribe to LFI, I recommend reading it. (I got a free subscription with my M9 in case you are wondering what I\'m doing with a Leica fan magazine). The interview is quite interesting and shows that Leica today is far from the Leica of the Leica fan folklore. He states among other things that M novices are responsible for the lens shortage.
Mmm, I mildly disagree. To some extent, I think that Leica is more comfortable catering to the smaller, more traditional part of their market. There is an attempt to adjust to more modern requirements, but I don\'t think that Leica will make a decision which compromises their traditional appeal.
I think that\'s partially true but also to a large extent just Leica folklore. Leica like other traditional companies (like Zeiss) have shown themselves more than willing to sell out the brand to meet even temporary market demands. This is nothing new. How many special editions of the M6 were there? 20? 30? Not to mention their cooperation with Panasonic where they slap on their brand on simple point and shoot cameras.
The X1, D-Lux, V-Lux and so on are a (successful) attempt to stay alive. The Summarit line of lenses was initiated by Stephen K. Lee, I believe, and I don\'t think that Leica will make another. Lenses like the 24/3.8 will continue to be made, but not the Summarit budget Leica approach. It is Leica\'s traditional approach to offer a generalist Cron version, and a high budget Lux version, or Elmarit/Cron for very wide/long. I don\'t see much reason to continue developing Summarits. The M9 is so expensive that a Summarit lens seems anachronistic.
I\'m not so sure about that. Precisely because the M9 is so expensive, people blow their budget on the camera and can\'t afford the higher end lenses. The only bad thing about the Summarit lenses are that their build quality isn\'t quite as good as the regular lenses. Optically they are very good and the price makes them competitive with Zeiss lenses. So for a person that has spent his or her budget on the camera they definitely make sense as a Zeiss alternative for people that prefer Leica rendering. Finally, AFIK more or less all of the S2 lenses are Summarits, so I doubt they are going to vanish any time soon.
As for a source for a CMOS sensor, well, the same as for the X1, I suppose.
The X1 isn\'t anywhere near full frame. I am not aware of any FF sensors on the open market. The closest is the Sony sensor, which is also sold to Nikon. I don\'t think there are others, and I don\'t think that Leica could buy that Sony sensor, nor would they want to. At Leica\'s volumes, they need a small specialist, or a lot of goodwill on the part of a supplier. I also think you underestimate the Japanese reluctance to supply core technologies to non-Japanese companies.
Possible. I don\'t know. We can only speculate what will happen in 3-5 years which is probably when we can expect an M10. I\'m hoping that by then we\'ll have more compact FF cameras to choose from by then.
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