[LRflex] Re: leicareflex Digest V4 #122
- From: KEITH LONGMORE <keith@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: leicareflex@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 06 May 2007 09:41:41 +0100
Folks, some thoughts in response to the interesting debate going on...
David, I disagree about light leakage; I have only ever seen
orange-biased flares of light from leakage, which, crucially, aren't in
focus, whereas yours is blue-white and pretty much in focus. My guess
is that you've picked up a reflection off something close by (car, or
puddle, perhaps?) or else just caught the sun in the right place when
you pressed the button.
Wish lists for the R10: my guess is that Leica will have to do something
radical if they are to survive. You can't sell 1950s or even 1990s
technology for ever - your target audience changes over time, as well as
other manufacturers' products advancing rapidly. It needs to be radical
enough to not lose too many of the traditional Leica buyers, whilst
attracting new, younger buyers. Quite a task!
My R3s are both STILL in for repair. The first one has been for about 9
months now; the second one may be at the start of another such saga -
who knows? Anyway, I have started a dialogue with my camera shop along
the lines of can I put them, plus the new Fuji S5600 in part exchange
for a new Fuji S9600. If he can do a reasonable deal - and he thinks so
- I shall jump at the chance. Now the Fuji S9600 has many of the
features that I want in a camera. It has PROPER manual modes for focus
and zoom (twist rings) as well as full auto, fold-out LCD, shoots RAW,
etc., etc. I couldn't make the lens on the S5600 flare even in bright
sunlight without a lens hood, and the S9600 has a better lens still.
It's fairly light and compact, although it's a bridge camera, with a big
optical zoom range. What more can one ask? I shall keep the R-E and
the IIIb though.
Fold-out LCDs: I have seen flexible circuits last many years; the trick
is the way they are flexed. If the bend is too sharp, and / or too
large an angle, it will fatigue and break. But designed sensibly, there
is no reason why it should fail. I suspect, however, that the LCD units
contain a processor and display drivers, allowing serial data exchange,
in which case, only three or four wires are needed. This means you
don't have to use a flexible circuit, ordinary stranded wires will do.
And, again, properly designed, long life is quite possible. The main
reason, I suggest, for these things failing is that their manufacturers
WANT them to fail - it's easy to persuade a customer that a new camera
(or other electronic gismo) is preferable to an (expensive!) repair.
And, finally, Made in Germany. German cars used to be a watchword for
quality. No more! Germany has become so expensive as a manufacturing
base, that inevitably corners are cut with quality. As an example, do a
search on MB 350 Turbodiesel S-class on the net. There are several
forums discussing the problems with that engine. An interesting comment
is that Studer, the tape-recorder manufacturer, who used to build the
Revox in the Black Forest, has closed down its manufacturing operation
there, and moved back to Switzerland; it's cheaper! It simply wasn't
viable to build them in the Black Forest, due to the high cost of
labour, factory space, German Labour Laws. Leica may not do themselves
any favours by trying to stick to 'Made in Germany'. No doubt we shall
see...
Regards all
Keith Longmore
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