[earleygallery]

I think perhaps Leica have seen themselves as a luxury brand in recent years. The comparison with hand made Swiss watches is a fair one. When I first got into Leica in the early 80's they were the premium 35mm camera - one to choose if you wanted a well made durable product.

I remember reading all the letters to the AP, the debates raging about whether these auto exposure/multi mode cameras would ever catch on, who wants electronic shutters, and the gimmicks like 'focus confirmation' and even talk of auto focus SLR's!! None of these were for 'serious' photographers (blimey I sound like some old fogey).

Thing is, and I've made the point before, when the camera body was simply a 'film holder' you could buy the cheapest s/h body and lens you could find (be it Leica or Nikon or Canon) and achieve the same results as the pro with the latest model top of the range camera. As long as the lens was the same it didn't matter about the body. With digital it's all about the sensor and the cost is in the body. If you're on a budget your never going to achieve quite the same results because the other guy has the latest sensor.

So it doesn't matter that Leica don't target 'young' photographers (I think it really is a question of photographers of limited budget) but if they continue to produce top quality gear, retain their reputation, then they will always be a brand that serious photographers will aspire to own.

With that in mind its far more important for Leica to attract professional photographers, and if the M8 lives up to expecatations it could become very popular amongst the press/papp/social photographers.