Thanks for the insight, I had no idea they were so lost in today's market. Do you mean that they missed the opportunity to become a leader in digital cameras? Would this have been a good course for them? I don't know...I confess am not at the point in life I could go and buy the stuff new in a showroom, so I don't follow the latest models or how they are doing or even if they have digital Leicas by now. I know that Leica brought out some point-and-shoot 35mm's that have mixed reviews for reliability and features, at least the older ones. Maybe these have been improved. They may go the way of many companies and end up diversifying to try to position themselves in various markets and fail at most if not all.. this is a real fallacy to think that if you have a great product in one market you need to be in others also. It works for some but is the ruin of most, it seems. Thank heavens at any rate we can get the solid older gear at least, which by the fact that it is still capable of producing the finest results after some 60 years in the case of my IIIa, literally gives meaning to the term 'timeless design'. I realize that working pros are going digital as fast as they can... I am happy to just have good film equipment they are abandoning, that I could never have otherwise had! It has been a fun few years getting my hands on Hasselblads, Nikons, even Leica now. Still, it seems that there are some members of this group who are of an age and income that allow them to easily afford the best digital gear on the market, given the fact that they can afford an R8 and a ton of lenses... yet they still stay with Leica film cameras, is this because they still feel the results are superior, or just enjoy shooting with this fine equipment? I think some of us that can use manual cameras and go into the darkroom and produce photographs are carrying on a great tradition and can look forward someday to being considered 'living national treasures' like the old potters and smiths in Japan, or the blacksmiths and weavers that give weekend demonstrations at folk festivals. I look forward to learning from all of you out there who have been working with Leica all these years..S . ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ted Grant" <tedgrant@xxxxxxx> To: <leicareflex@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Saturday, September 18, 2004 11:53 AM Subject: [LRFlex] Re: new zoom lens > Steve said: > > >>> Leica is to be credited as much for their business acumen in defining a > > market for their new camera and taking market share from earlier > technology > > vendors, as much as the technical development and innovation of the camera > > itself. The appeal was to seize the 'decisive moment' as photographers > like > > Cartier-Bresson and others exemplified, for those frustrated with the > > artistic detachment of large format pictorialism and static portraiture of > > the previous century.<<<<<<< > > Hi Steve, > An honourable comment on the brilliance of Leica in the ...." very good old > days". However, the past ten, twenty years, probably longer, they've been > absolutely clueless about marketing strategy. Today Leica's probably as > close as one can get to becoming a "TV History Channel" programme simply > because of their stupid marketing methods in this modern world of high tech > everything photographic. > > I'm a Leica user as a professional photojournalist for over 45 years and use > Leica because it gave me a quality of film negs and slides other gear did > not. Also a method of shooting as unobtrusively as possible regardless of > subject or situation. And certainly with the light one sees the world around > them without flash. > > I think most old time Leica shooters on this list and many others are aware > of the error in the Leica ways to marketing while not keeping abreast of the > sound barrier breaking advances in the digital world. Unfortunately they're > scrambling like crazy to catch-up while still thinking / living a hundred > years in the past when they were the only "photo kid on the block!" > > Whether they crash and burn or reach unimagined digital successes it wont > change my gear as it'll always be the best. > > ted Grant > http://www.islandnet.com/~tedgrant/ > > > ------ > Unsubscribe or change to/from Digest Mode at: > www.horizon.bc.ca/~dnr/lrflex.htm > Archives are at: > www.freelists.org/archives/leicareflex/ ------ Unsubscribe or change to/from Digest Mode at: www.horizon.bc.ca/~dnr/lrflex.htm Archives are at: www.freelists.org/archives/leicareflex/