[LRflex] Re: Drop the R?
- From: David Young <telyt@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: leicareflex@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 14 May 2007 11:11:52 -0700
At 14/05/2007, you wrote:
>On May 14, 2007, at 1:32 AM, Noel Yates wrote:
>
> > Dear All,
> >
> > What does Leica have that Canon and Nikon do not have? A rangefinder
> > camera system, film and digital (argentique and numerique, the French
> > words are so much more pleasant). Much as I love the R system
> > (Leicaflex to R3 for me) maybe Leica I will drop it and concentrate
> > harder on the M niche.
>
>A further narrowing of their product base will increase their
>vulnerability to market instability and whims and will reduce the
>opportunities for synergies between the product lines.
Doug, Noel, et al:
Leica know the dangers of being a one product firm. They are looking
to expand, not contract.
Leica have no intentions of dropping the R line, so far as I
know. They plan to bring out the R10 (at least, at this stage,
they're still calling it an R10), introducing it at Photokina,
'08. What shape it will have, what size it will be, what features
and pricing will go with it, are all unknowns. That it is coming, is known.
The 4/3rds line is not going to compete with the professional cameras
from Nikon and Canon, and Leica's publicly stated ambition is to
bring the "pros" back to the Leica fold.
More speculation: I think you will see introduced at the coming Photokina's:
2008 - The R10 - a truly professional grade dSLR.
2010 - An 'improved' M9
2012 - The R11 (a minor upgrade to the R10). As well, if the
4/3rds format proves to have "staying power", then a Leica
designed/built 4/3rds dSLR aimed at the top end of that market. If
not, you'll see both an R11 and an R12(?) which will be a feature
reduced model to cover the upper middle price point. Most likely it
will still be Wetzlar built.
2014 - An "improved" M10.
---
My crystal ball gets very cloudy, beyond that point, though it would
make sense to alternate M & R, bringing a new model of each to
market, every 4 years. Some of these products should. perhaps, come
out sooner, but there are the dual limitations of money and time to
needed to successfully engineer the products.
The R10, like the M8, is going to consume a lot of both, because they
are "new from the ground up" cameras. Once they are in place
(assuming the R10 design hits the mark ... and sales of it prove as
successful as the M8) the later R11, M9, etc. will come both faster
and with less cost to Leica, for they will be incremental improvement
on an existing design.
Just another 2 cents worth....
Cheers!
---
David Young,
Logan Lake, CANADA
Wildlife Photographs: http://www.telyt.com/
Personal Web-pages: http://www3.telus.net/~telyt
Stock Photography at: http://tinyurl.com/2amll4
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