Jump to content

What if Kodak fails?


dubes

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 41
  • Created
  • Last Reply
In the pantheon of things that I am going to worry about this comes somewhere below "does my bum look big in this?"

 

Regards,

 

Bill

 

 

Concerned then.... you should worry less about your appearance Bill, it's not what makes you a great person.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Did I say that or did I say that Leica could ask them?

I can assure you that it would be utterly pointless. Not only has Canon scrapped their rangefinder building facilities decades ago, they are not about to take orders from a foreign competitor. The Japanese business structure does not work that way. Panasonic is a whole different case, and even they are not building gear for Leica. They are selling Panasonic cameras to Leica for rebranding - something utterly different.

The Japanese sensor company that could replace Kodak might be Sony as far as Leica are concerned.

Link to post
Share on other sites

snip ................

 

But then Fuji turn up with the X100. Everyone (more or less) loves them and everyone wants one if only as a second camera. The same everyone is saying 'if only it came with interchageable lenses'. So perhaps Fuji have opened the doors for Canon and Nikon to produce something like the M series that we all know and love. They did it in the film days they could do it again.

 

Just because they haven't, doesn't mean the can't.

 

Just because they haven't is more likely to mean that even though they possibly can, they won't as it won't produce enough yen for them.

 

Oh, and I'm glad you said "(more or less)" because I for one am in the less category, and I certainly don't want one as a second camera.

 

By "everyone" do you mean "I"?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Did I say that or did I say that Leica could ask them?

Oh, surely Leica could ask (assuming your suggested plan to outsource camera development and production was a good idea in the first place), but would Canon hear them? That’s the real question.

 

Glendower:

I can call spirits from the vasty deep.

 

Hotspur:

Why, so can I, or so can any man;

But will they come when you do call for them?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Modern manufacturing processes mean that small runs of silicon are not that costly.

 

I would not be beyond the bounds of possibility that Sony or someone else could run off sensors for Leica at Kodak's, or even cheaper, prices.

 

Saying that as kodak's sensor business is highly profitable the chance of it being wound up, whether belonging to Kodak or ANOther is virtually zero

 

rgds

Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm a little surprised that Kodak hasn't been bought by some private equity outfit by now, carved up and had all the profitable bits sold off. Presumably there are some serious pension or other liabilities attached to the company that nobody will want to touch with a barge pole.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Ummm.. small question: If Canon could do that why are they not doing it?:confused: They like to make a Yen as well as the next bloke.:rolleyes:

 

Hi

 

Canon made the Canon P a direct competitor for the M2 about '58 to '60 nicer camera than M2 in every way except for LTM mount, the P was also rather cheaper then the M2.

But they Canon then changed their marketing & sold more SLR and fixed lens rfdrs.

I'd be surprised if they are even musing about atavistic cameras...

 

Noel

Link to post
Share on other sites

I'd be far more concerned about Leica disappearing before Kodak. By comparison Kodak's brand penetration is stellar, their IP is far greater and they are able to mobilise a lot more capital for injection into their business than a tiny, niche market engineering company somewhere in the EU. Kodak is an attractive acquisition proposition to any far eastern company, although in this global economy I doubt anyone is in buying mood. Of course, Kodak may divest of businesses which do not pay their way to reduce losses and I suspect the sensor business would be the first to go.

 

LouisB

Link to post
Share on other sites

I suspect you will find that Panasonic and Canon are in different Keiretsu. They may as well be on different planets if so.

 

Regards,

 

Bill

 

Actually, Panasonic was never in any keiretsu (family-owned, still has a Matsushita family member on the board). And the keiretsu model has declined substantially anyway with the stalling of the Japanese economy over the past 20 years - some of the banks that were the core of each Keiretsu have collapsed or become too weak to maintain their dominance.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I think the life cycle for a digital camera, technologically is 3-5 years now days. Things have moved on (originally I was upgrading Nikon and then Canon DSLRs every two years purely because of huge digital advances) so the need to upgrade is less frequent. Naturally though, it's nothing like film cameras, so upgrading should result in better quality images & an even more usable camera.

The M9 is superb and I've just ordered an M9-P; however, I'm fully expecting to upgrade to the M10 as I would hope it would have higher ISO and better performance at the higher ISOs and perhaps also a bigger buffer. The thought of not finding spare M9 chips many years from now, I would suggest isn't comparable to parts for an M6 for example.

 

It sure is an expensive game, but such is technology!

 

Edmond

Link to post
Share on other sites

I hope for Leica that the M 10 will offer more than that. These two improvements, welcome as they would be and maybe essenttial for a small group of users would hardly be enough to generate an M9-like buying frenzy (speaking in the scale of tfhe Leica world of courde;))

Link to post
Share on other sites

I hope for Leica that the M 10 will offer more than that. These two improvements, welcome as they would be and maybe essenttial for a small group of users would hardly be enough to generate an M9-like buying frenzy (speaking in the scale of tfhe Leica world of courde;))

 

That's a very interesting comment Jaap about the buying frenzy; I wonder what a camera would need to equal that. Naturally the jump to full frame & a chip that works well at 1250ISO & didn't need to be filtered was a massive advance over the M8, but I can't think for a traditional M camera, what would make it be as popular as the M9!

 

Moving slightly away from the traditional M, alongside with all the M has now, keeping the rangefinder & size, I'd personally welcome a camera that did video & good audio - the thought of being able to use Leica glass on film projects is just delicious! (I know getting Leica R glass and adapting them is an option, but it's another expense and alas would mean no Noctilux ASPH which would be my first wish for video!) This would mean live view as well; not only great for video but for close up work perhaps? Who knows - I know these points have been discussed & fought over before, so I'd better leave this all now!!

 

Cheers,

 

Edmond

Link to post
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...