Chineese Leica T wannabe - micro 4/3

[mirekti]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

It seems Leica T keeps inspiring http://www.yitechnology.com/yimirrorless/index/id/8.html

[gbealnz]

LOL, another "Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery" situations.

Micro four thirds too though.

I had a decent look, and will go back to it.

Did you find a price?

Gary

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[mikemgb]

MSRP $699 - http://www.cnet.com/products/yi-m1/preview/

[LUF Admin]

I visited yesterday the booth at photokina and had a long talk to the product manager

 

The price is $500 for the standard zoom kit, $700 is for camera and both lenses: standard zoom and portrait tele 42.5 f1.8 (eq 85mm)

 

Andreas

[jaapv]

What did they have to say about the "superficial resemblance", Andreas?

It brings back the days of the Canon IIS.

[bencoyote]

The real innovation in the T is only partly the construction but also the user interface. It will be interesting to see if they dug into that part of the T's design DNA.

 

I think that the T provided three distinct things for Leica

1) It took Leica from the old style construction techniques which are still seen on the M240 and the S007 to the new construction techniques seen on the SL. The deeper idea is using CNC machining for not only prototyping but also production. This is ideal for a small volume producer like Leica. It allows them to reduce their labor inputs and parts counts while maintaining high quality.

2) The M inherits an extraordinarily simplistic user interface from the physical limitations of the camera. I can't really speak to the S but the T demonstrated a well considered UI design that provided fairly intuitive access to the capability of a modern digital camera while avoiding the complexity that afflicts other camera's UI designs.

3) This is more hypothetical but I think that the T unintentionally taught Leica about the paramount importance of high speed AF on mirrorless cameras. I think that user's experience with and reaction to the T may have led to Leica licensing DFD technology from Panasonic. It is pretty obvious that Leica has greatly improved the performance of AF on the T. I'm uncertain as to whether part of this performance improvement is DFD but I honestly doubt it because DFD requires some bandwidth capabilities from the sensor that I'm not sure the T has.

 

Where do I hope we are going with the TL line?

1) I hope they do a sensor refresh and it includes the sensor performance improvements that are needed for DFD. I continue to lobby for a logic board, sensor assembly replacement rather than a new camera model for a variety of reasons. <see below>

2) I hope they come out with a nice simple TL camera that is essentially the same as the current T but with the hardware upgrades that bring it on par with the current generations of APS-C sensors.

3) I hope Leica diversifies the line of TL mount cameras to make one that has the UI of the X series of cameras. This could replace the X series of cameras with the exception of the XU which continues to require an integrated lens for water resistance.

 

PS reasons for a CLAU

So while it is impossible to replace the sensor on the logic board it is fairly easy to make a new logic board with the same dimensions IO flex cable header locations and mounting screw positions and connect up the IO pins of this new logic board to the same old flex cables that route the previous generation used. Therefore Leica could conceivably make a CLAU service, Clean lubricate adjust and UPGRADE.

 

There are several decent business reasons to do this:

1) it makes a camera a long term investment again rather than a disposable commodity helping to justify their high prices. Leica has a hard time competing with cheaper throw away mass produced cameras

2) it decreases competition on the used market. They don't have to compete with their previous model when the new version comes out.

3)There wouldn't be a sudden drop in the value of unsold inventory.

4) it shifts people's spending from buying the next body more toward buying more lenses where their real expertise and value lies

5) the unit cost of circuit boards and semiconductors is cheaper as the volume goes up. All these upgrades would boost their volume buying leverage.

6) it creates a point of touch between Leica and their customers this continuing relationship is highly valued and opens an opportunity for follow on sales

7) it emphasizes the old world value of good quality and repairability which is in line with the Leica legacy and deep history and is baked deeply into the design of the M. The M is a hard to manufacture high precision device which is part of why it is so expensive but by virtue of the way it was designed and built it is easier to repair. The T is a more modern design and replacing the electronic guts is comparatively simple.

8) it would be a unique brand feature

9) it would allow them to work around component obsolescence in their supply chain. i.e. Never having to tell someone that their camera can't be repaired. They just say we need to do the upgrade which replaces the guts of the camera with new currently in production parts.

10) It allows users to stick with the same UI that they have grown accustomed to.

11) it is green

[jankap]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Nice idea.

You should add , that the upgrade should be sold in a package for a DIY action by the user.

Otherwise I fear, that a CLAU could be an expensive procedure.

Jan

Edited September 26, 2016 by jankap