[LRflex] Re: Erwin Puts on the DM-R

G'Mornin' Neil!

On 28/08/2005 at 8:44 AM Neil Gould wrote:

>Indeed. I was glad to see that Puts constructed valid test procedures and
>covered the issues in an objective way. I remain skeptical about the
>hybrid approach that Leica has chosen for the DMR,

I believe that Leica took the hybrid approach as they saw it as a lower=
 cost way to go...rather than designing an entirely new mechanical body, as=
 well.  Perhaps now, within the firm, there is much discussion on the=
 wisdom of this move.

>even if some of the
>criticisms that Puts put forth are somewhat questionable; the brightness
>of the viewfinder in a dSLR is typically determined in the same way as for
>an SLR, nor will the image on the display be the same as in the
>viewfinder.

I questioned his comments on the VF brightness as well... for years Erwin=
 has championed the R8/9 and SL/SL2 as the brightest, best of the=
 viewfinders.  It made me wonder...

>The article's most damning comments seem to be the state and rate of
>development at Leica. One can't start a race several laps behind the
>leaders in a slower vehicle and expect to be competitive. There is almost
>no chance that Leica will produce a digital product that is competitive
>with the best available products. 

If Leica can produce a viable Digital M, it will have that market pretty=
 much to itself. However, it must do it at what is at least a not too=
 overpriced level.

The Epson (Cosina made) digital RF is very expensive and not that good.=
  Leica will have to do better, at a similar price, to succeed.  That,=
 given time, they can do better, I don't doubt... but at a similar price?=
 Now *that* is the quesion!

>As there is at least the appearance of collaboration with Panasonic=
 through the Lumix line of cameras, I don't understand why Leica doesn't=
 fully partner with that company to produce a digital body that accepts R=
 lenses.

At this point, I believe that Matsushita (Panasonic) may be their best hope=
 of bringing the proverbial R10d to market - at least in a reasonable time.=
  They could use the existing R8/9 castings, eliminating everything to do=
 with manual adavance, and place much of the electronics and motor in the=
 areas where the winding gears and film canister and takeup spools would=
 be. Really, it wouldn't cost as much as designing the back...as much of=
 the tooling would already be in place, and much of the high-cost=
 mechanical parts would be eliminated.

The intersting thing is that were this to happen, it would be like the=
 Contax/Yashica situation with Kyocera.  The cheaper, Yashica line of=
 lenses had Contax mounts.  I believe that in a Panasonic partnership,=
 Panasonic would produce a cheaper line of entirely Japanese lenses in a=
 Leica-R mount. They would want this because it would give them a cheaper=
 entry into a field they've not been in before (SLRs) and by staying with=
 the 'R' mount, it would give them access to a wide base of customers who=
 would often want a lower quality, lower price lens for those focal lengths=
 they don't use often enough to warrant the cost of Leica glass.  This=
 strategy worked well for Yashica/Contax for many years, and, frankly, I=
 think it would be a good plan for both companies.

Mostly, I found it interesting that Erwin, who has been on Leica's payroll=
 for years, is slowly becoming less of a "party hack" and more objective.  

>Thanks for presenting this page! BTW - I noticed that links to Puts' other
>pages appear to be broken. Is that your experience as well?

Yes... though I hand't checked them until you mentioned it. I go to Erwin's=
 site regularly, and the've always worked for me, before.

Go to http://www.imx.nl/ and all the links work from that point.  It must=
 be something to do with the way the site has been constructed... though I=
 don't know enough about HMTL to know how or why.


David Young,
Logan Lake, BC    
CANADA. 

Personal Web-site at: http://www3.telus.net/~telyt
Leica Reflex Forum web-page: http://www3.telus.net/~telyt/lrflex.htm

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