[john_f]

Chris,

I just came back from a Leica demo day. The Leica rep confirmed that the Elmarit-R 28mm has been discontinued (a few months ago apparently). He could not confirm whether or not Leica would be introducing a new 28mm R lens. According to him, the two best selling lenses in the R line right now are 1) the Vario-Elmar-R 21-35mm Asph and 2) the Vario-Elmarit-R 28-90mm Asph. In general, sales of Leica wide-angle prime lenses are more concentrated in the M line than in the R line.

We talked at length about the M8, and also the R9+DMR. I did mention the R10 to him. The Leica rep confirmed that work on the R10 project had already started some time ago, but that - in his own opinion - Leica's first priority right now was to get the M8 to market ASAP. Once that's done, it would be fair to assume that priorities would shift more towards the R10 project. When asked about a possible date for the R10, the Leica rep estimated Photokina 2008, but not before (a fairly conservative estimate). I did ask about the DMR firmware update v1.3. I was told that it should be ready in December.

I did not ask about the possible specs of a future R10 as it is still at the project level. In other words, anything is possible right now, but I do think that it will be "full-frame" 24x36mm (not a square format). I too would like to see focus confirmation in a future R10 (IMHO, a better approach for Leica than complete AF). A good way to improve upon the R9 would be with its light metering. The R9 does not use its "matrix metering" for flash metering. Another place for improvement would be the R9's HSS. Unlike modern top of the line D-SLRs, the R9's HSS feature is not fully automated. I also believe that a new approach to light metering will be required if Leica is to keep up with other D-SLRs. An improved "matrix" metering for both ambient and artificial lighting, which could measure both the quantity (exposure) and quality (white balance) of the light, would be a worthwhile improvement. Other possible improvements often talked about in the Customer Forum have to do with the viewfinder (brightness, contrast, magnification, HP, etc..). Just my two cents ...

Finally, I asked about the Sinar deal made between Leica Camera and Jenoptik (the owner of Sinar AG). The deal was announced just prior to Photokina (Sept 25). Strangely, the Sinar booth at Photokina had a big sign that read "Sinar AG - A Jenoptik Company". The Leica rep was somewhat puzzled as to the strategy behind Leica Camera's purchase of Sinar. Both the MF and LF markets are getting smaller and smaller and pros used to MF are indeed moving toward high-res "35mm format" D-SLR cameras. About Sinar's expertise in digital, I am not sure where it really lies. Correct me if I am wrong but I believe the design of their digital backs often involved other outside firms, including Jenoptik and Kodak (sensors). Perhaps other members could provide info on this.

I came away with the definitive impression that the Leica M8 will be a tremendous success. The Leica rep mentioned that in more than 20 years, he had never seen such a huge demand for a Leica camera. He expects that even five months from now, the Leica M8 will still be on back order. Leica has been pleasantly surprised by the much larger than expected demand for the M8. And that's good news for Leica.

Best regards,

John F.