Dirk,I fully agree. Forget about the Chinese mini digi "Rollei". I looked at it at Heathrow two weeks ago and found it cheaply made and many parts just fake plastic.
Your suggestions should be adressed to F&H. Instead of waisting their effort and manpower on super-high end (5 digit price tag) products like the HY6 and the golden TLR set they could have reinvented the Rollei 35 (see wat Olympus just did with their 1960's Pen concept!) and an affordable Rolleicord next to the 'flex line.
But, I am not even sure about digital Rolleis. I shot all analog on the last trip and must say I don't miss digital when I am not documenting my zoological work. Leica M6 with Zeiss lenses and my 1959 3.5E.
What F&H needs to get away from is a staff 149 to make these niche products who probably all want 3-4 grand a month and the typical German 4-5 weeks of paid vacations a year. They should spend a year in the US for a reality check.
MF is not dead. I predict the new Fuji/Voigtlander Bessa III to be a huge success, in spite of its breathtaking $2300 price tag. Why not from F&H or Carl Zeiss / Cosina??
Jan On Aug 1, 2009, at 1:07 AM, FreeLists Mailing List Manager wrote:
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 23:09:51 +0200 From: Dirk-Roger Schmitt <Dirk-Roger.Schmitt@xxxxxx> Subject: [rollei_list] Minox Rollei digital TLR AF5.0Friends. Coming back to this "toy". Why the hell, no company takes the size of Baby Rollei housing, putsa decent Zeiss lens and a decent sensor in it, makes the knobs really working, uses the second lens for an optical viewfinder and mountsthe screen in the back of the camera?Sensors and lenses should be available off the shell for some bucks in the meantime. You could sell it for 1000 $ and people would by it, including me.Buy the way, the same could be done with the Rollei 35: Decent sensorand lens, optical viewfinder, working knobs and the screen in the back.I also would buy it. Regards Dirk
