Leica R10 with 24x36mm sensor Can't take current R lenses?

[rosuna]

Originally Posted by sdai

So who will buy this 36x48 Leica, Ruben?

...or a bit smaller than that...

I don't know. I suppose profesionals that work in studio or in location and curently using 35mm or MF cameras. The strong points of the new system are in between of 35mm and MF... Assuming good compatibility with R glass, I suppose the first customers will be R owners.

The problem is who would buy a full frame 35mm R system. Current owners of R lenses and cameras (maybe not all of them), and... Not many more. Competition in 35mm FF market will be brutal in a few months (Samsung, Pentax, Sony, Nikon, Canon... all of them with 2, 3, 4 models...). I want not repeat the arguments, but Leica cannot compete in terms of image quality (sensor, processor), or costs.

[rosuna]

Focal plane shutter or leaf shutter (into the lens)?

[GreyCoupe]

The secrecy is hard to take.

I have waited a long time, hoping that Leica will not strand me with a bag FULL of great glass, and no body to mount it on. It would be a shame to have to used these great lenses stop-down only on a non-Leica body, and lose so much of the functionality/ convenience of native body/lens combinations.

I always have believed that ROM held more than R8/R9 bodies could digest--and while I agree with earlier posters that MF focus confirmation is not enough to re-establish Leica as a leader in camera technology, if that is all that is added when using the existing R lenses, HOORAY! The R lenses possess the same magic as the Ms. And I can and would add R-AF bodies to my collection over time.

But for Leica to re-enter the SLR fray with a body totally incompatible with existing R lenses would be a shame, and unlike them. But they are under new ownership, and business is business. I hope enough of the old Leica survives that convenient backward compatibility is not a victim of the new company culture.

[Nitnaros]

I was at my New York Leica dealer this week, in the store, and he claimed the R system/lenses is dead. The new Leica will be medium-format, not compatible with existing R lenses.

He said "look, dealers are already selling off R equipment, we can buy it at a discounted rate from Leica".

...

Peter

[R10dreamer]

This makes my heart sink and in fact, if it is true, who would trust the money to invest in Leica. If they throw people under the bus they better make sure that there are other poeple (customers) to take their place. This sounds like a 20 year plan with a 4 year life cycle.

[EH21]

Originally Posted by psorantin

I was at my New York Leica dealer this week, in the store, and he claimed the R system/lenses is dead. The new Leica will be medium-format, not compatible with existing R lenses.

He said "look, dealers are already selling off R equipment, we can buy it at a discounted rate from Leica".

...

Peter

What dealer might that be? Mine told me a R10 was 100% for sure and to hold onto my better R lenses.

[Nitnaros]

Don't want to spell out the name of the dealer, but you would recognize the name.

I think lots of relevant facts were brought up in this thread:

- Coming late to the DSLR full-frame party would not be funny for Leica
- A lot of Leica customers have deep financial pockets; several of today's Leica dealers sell Hassy's H3D's and similar equipment in the 20-30k range succesfully; why not sell a Leica MF? Its the greatest brand name together with Hasselblad
- MF should be higher margin than the breed of Canon/Nikon/Sony/OIy DSLR's; that's exactly what Leica needs with its higher cost of development and manufacturing
- Yes, you need to go bigger in sensor size than 24x36, since mevgapixel are one marketing factor you cannot ignore, *and* any new MF system needs to differentiate itself from the Canon/Nikon top-end.

There are probably not that many Leica R customers out there today - if we are talking about "burning bridges". Leica might say " we keep providing customer service for R equipment for x years".

It might be a pure question of survival to find a new lucrative niche in addition to the M's.

... All of this makes sense.

What I don't understand is why Leica would not make existing R lenses useable in a kind of crop mode....

Peter

[doctorlol]

I hope not to get egg on my face, but I am so pleased to have got a great price for my R8 body and lenses.

[rosuna]

Originally Posted by psorantin

What I don't understand is why Leica would not make existing R lenses useable in a kind of crop mode....

Peter

The mount to sensor distance is much larger in medium format systems.

[dsapkota]

So, the rumor was partly true. It was about S2 but they thought about R10.

[jaapv]

Originally Posted by Nitnaros

I was at my New York Leica dealer this week, in the store, and he claimed the R system/lenses is dead. The new Leica will be medium-format, not compatible with existing R lenses.

He said "look, dealers are already selling off R equipment, we can buy it at a discounted rate from Leica".

...

Peter

Of course Leica wants to clear any R stock they may have. The R10 will be autofocus with AF lenses, although retrocompatible with manual lenses. When it comes as promised (autumn 2009, spring 2010??) they will want to sell the new lenses and have no old stuff cluttering up the shelves.

[alessandro]

Originally Posted by erl

Just to put the cat among the pidgeons, I suggest that the sensor could be as large as 36x36mm and still the lenses would cover it as well as 24x36mm, would they not?

NO.

The diagonal of a 36x36 square is longer than the diagonal of a 24x36 rectangle.