[DTD]

Apologies for posting some rambling thoughts again…

I think Erwin Puts has a point about the relevance of the rangefinder to most photographers. When I think of Leica I think 'rangefinder'. I wouldn't dispute the quality of their SLRs, but I would be unlikely to buy into the R series over what other manufacturers have on offer. Rangefinders are what makes Leica different, but it's a difference that after the acceptance of autofocus and electronics in the professional world, is probably irrelevant to most photographers. I've used Olympus for a long time – they effectively gave up being a brand with a professional presence when they didn't/couldn't develop a quality autofocus SLR. By the time the E-1 came along I think many professional Oly users had had to jump ship.

In the mainstream market, most amateurs couldn't justify spending what Ms and Rs cost. At the compact end of the range I can't see much reason to pay the 'red-dot' premium over Panasonic's prices. I think most professionals look at costs and returns and there doesn't seem an advantage for them in buying into the R or M system either. It seems the company lost the professional market years ago. Does anyone know any research of Leica's customers are pro/amateur/dentist etc?

The point about made about rental equipment is a good one. I know a couple of professional photographers and they use Hassleblad/Mamiya or Nikon/Canon partly because there's a support infrastructure.

I understand Leica try to position themselves as a 'luxury brand'. But there's a difference between sticking a Rolex on one's wrist and learning to operate a non-auto camera. Any rich so-and-so can pootle around London at 10 mph in a Porsche. I wonder how firms like Alpa and Ebony keep going? I suppose their R&D budgets and the whole scale of business are tiny.

One thing I find a bit worrying about Leica is the attitude that "the MP is perfection and can't be improved upon". Can you imagine a Japanese company saying they can't develop a product? They'd soon be keeping Mr Lee company.

I'm afraid I don't know what Leica should do – I just hope they manage to continue. But I think they should perhaps develop a new type of camera. I like the form of the old C2 compact. It looked like a 'Leica' and I wonder if this might be a starting point for a digital, autofocus camera? If there's demand for cameras such as the Sigma DP-1 and Ricoh GR-D, surely Leica could sell something that in spirit is probably closer to the original Barnack ideas than what's currently on offer. If so, I'm not sure there's the demand to shift it in sufficient quantities.