[LRflex] Re: Modular cameras

XYAndy commented:



David Young <dsy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
But the big key would be the sensor. Let's assume that the first one would be 14 megapixels (this is all speculation - I have no knowledge of this). Two years later, they introduce an 18mp model. But with the "smaller" model remaining in the line at a lower price ... so that buyers would have a choice of pixel count and price levels. Two years later still, the 22mp sensor is introduced... and the 18mp becomes the lower cost option, with the 14mp model being discontinued.
The advantages, to Leica, aside from lower cost/ quicker time to market would be that they could offer pros the one thing that Leica's competition is not offering them. Protection from obsolescence. That alone, might be enough to make many pros move from brands N & C to brand L. 


David
If you really look at the N&C's-All they are really doing is upgrading the electronics in their cameras-- the basic body stays the same with a few cosmetic features to give it a look of new at least in the prosumer lines. Ofcourse they market them as entirely new and must have fantastic.
Will Leica build such camera? I have absolutely no idea. But to me, it makes a lot of sense, as a way for a "niche player" to increase the size of their niche.
Makes alot of sense to me also--question being by introducing such a perpetually upgradable camera wouldn't Leica be alienating the retailer. I believe that may have been part of the reason Mr. Lee was dismissed. Rumor has it that he should not have leaked that info regarding the M8 

Hi Andy!
Of course, you are right... Canon & Nikon simply upgrade the electronics and restyle the body... then call it "all new". This sort of "upgrade" forces the consumer to buy many parts all over again (good for the maker, not good for the buyer). In lower cost cameras, this makes sense. But, at the top price levels (and Leica is there) there is a huge resistance from pros (in particular) who need to keep up, but cannot really afford all new gear every 18 to 20 months.. or even sooner. With the DMR-2 concept, they buy the camera once a decade and buy the equivalent off a semi-pro body (in the cost of the backs), every couple of years... while maintaining top quality gear.
Can't say about the rumours around Mr. Lee and his sudden departure. But, as for the retailer ... no, I cannot see anything but a big plus. After all, we (the consumers - both amateur and pro) would buy our new backs from our dealer, the same as Hasselblad users would buy new or additional backs from the Hassy dealers. One of the big complaints that dealers have, with Leica, is the inability to sell Leica in quantity, because the prices are so high. But, selling 40% of a camera (in the form of a back), every two or three years, to the same consumer is the sort of repeat business that dealers need and want. Moreover, unlike other brands, the consumer is bound to buy more Leica, or lose his investment in the rest of the body. Canon always worries about losing customers to Nikon, & vice versa. But, for Leica it is the same strategy which made Hassy dominant in the 6x6 market. Why should it not work in a smaller format?
As for Leica, it means that over, say, 10 years, they'd sell one body ($3000) and 5 backs (one at the start, another every 2 years). Without allowing for inflation, that's $13,000 over 10 years - considerably more than they got out their buyers, in the age of mechanical cameras. Even for the amateur, who might buy a new back only every 4 years, that's still 1 body, and three backs for gross sales of $9,000 in that decade. 

And that's not counting the lenses!
I see this as a win/win format, for Leica (one which really could attract the pro market they so desperately want and need) and for the consumers, both pro and amateur, who can keep up with the times, and with Leica quality, at a much lower, over-all cost. 

But, will they make it???  Herr Kaufmann knows... and he's not talking!
He has said only that, at Photokina, they will show "something" which will give us an idea which way they are heading. That is a long way from talk, a couple of years ago, when they'd hoped to show at Photokina and deliver by November of this year... though that could, I guess, still happen. 

Interesting to conjecture about.  Wait for the Photokina news.

Cheers!





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David Young,
Logan Lake, CANADA

Limited Edition Prints at: www.furnfeather.net
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