TomB_tx Posted June 21, 2012 Share #181 Â Posted June 21, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) I wonder have you handled one? Not nice compared to an m2,3,4,6,7,8 or 9- even an M1... the camera is a classic design failure if you ask me. It didn't just fail because of the CL- it failed against the SLR's from Japan- it failed aesthetically. It failed miserably. Strikes me that similar thing could happen to Leica again today if they were not careful... A similar thing could easily happen. The M5 was designed by engineers, not marketeers. I passed on the M5 and kept my M4 back then, but finally got an M5 because I liked my CL so much. Love the near-spot meter in both. I think the SLR competition would have hurt any rangefinder during the M5 years, so it's hard to say how much of its problem was design vs the tidal move to SLRs (and undeniably price). I must say I love the M5: a very usable camera. Aesthetics are personal. I've run into many M5 users over the years, and I noticed they were all engineers. Perhaps it appeals to those who prefer function to style. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ming Rider Posted June 21, 2012 Share #182 Â Posted June 21, 2012 The M5 was ugly . . . Â A lot of people said the same about Joseph Merrick (The Elephant Man). Awfull, bigoted and to be honest, quite ignorant people. Â However, those that actually took the time to get to know him said that he was indeed a warm, kind, caring, eloquent, inteligent and beautiful person . . . and that he had a face like a bulldog chewing a wasp. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosuna Posted June 21, 2012 Share #183 Â Posted June 21, 2012 However, those that actually took the time to get to know him said that he was indeed a warm, kind, caring, eloquent, inteligent and beautiful person . . . Â What does that have to do with ugliness? Â (... a question from an ignorant person). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ming Rider Posted June 21, 2012 Share #184  Posted June 21, 2012 What does that have to do with ugliness? (... a question from an ignorant person).  In your quote you missed out the important bit. The punchline.  I was branding myself ignorant, not you. It's a British thing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
algrove Posted June 22, 2012 Share #185 Â Posted June 22, 2012 Why could not one of the "new products" be a modern Visoflex (read EVF) retrofittable to any M9 camera? The only problem in my mind would be making it so that the current M lens lineup can still function as it does now. In retrospect probably not possible. Â He said new products not new cameras. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Geschlecht Posted June 22, 2012 Share #186 Â Posted June 22, 2012 Hello algrove, Â There might be some things which are impossible altho much of what is considered impossible simply hasn't been done yet. Â People literally dragged what they needed all around all over the World for 10's of 1,000's of years until not that long ago someone thought of: Â Wheels. Â Retrospectively simple. Â Best Regards, Â Michael Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted June 22, 2012 Share #187 Â Posted June 22, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) As i understand it, an EVF would require a CMOS sensor. http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m9-forum/157718-evf-m9.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaques Posted June 22, 2012 Share #188 Â Posted June 22, 2012 OK- do you want to take this soulful, kind and caring 'elephant man' of a camera off my hands? remember: no silly prices... I am too ignorant, bigoted and awful to appreciate him... I think he is damn ugly... sure he makes nice pictures... but I have a very attractive m6 for that Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest malland Posted June 22, 2012 Share #189  Posted June 22, 2012 I've never found the M5 ugly. A rather clean design rather....De gustibus non disputandum est, and there is little point in discussing the aesthetics and form of the M5 because the market spoke loud and clear when the M5 was introduced — and the results almost bankrupted the Leitz company. However,what is interesting, I think, is that the M5 fiasco is a classic case of a production-oriented company trying to be, or thinking that they were being, market-oriented; that they were "listening" to what their customers wanted but finding that they had heard the wrong message only when the camera did not sell.  What a production oriented company often learns is that what the customers seem to ne saying isn't really what the market is saying because the company doesn't really know how to do market research and are listening to only some customers are saying. There was a similar problem with Volkswahen when they produced the poorly-selling 411. It's very difficult to turn a production oriented company into a market oriented one. At the time of the M5, of course, it was Nikon, Canon and Asahi Pentax that were market oriented, not Leitz.  —Mitch/Bangkok Scratching the Surface Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted June 22, 2012 Share #190 Â Posted June 22, 2012 The CS lenses were actually introduced 4 years ago back in 2008 ... I don't think they are readily avaialable yet even after the re-introduction. Â They were specifically mentioned in Berlin as being available from now, as design problems with the shutter have been solved. I suppose the availability is similar to other lenses . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ho_co Posted June 23, 2012 Share #191 Â Posted June 23, 2012 Surely the brick like shape of the M5 played a role in it's failure? What a hopeless camera: imagine buying it at twice the price of a sleek M4? You'd have to be mad... it's not like you couldn't get a small hand held light meter in those days... Â Or better yet, an MR-4 clip-on meter for the M4. Â And I guess by your definition I was mad. I had an M2 with MR-4 meter and leapt happily for the M5, whose meter was one of the most sensitive on the market, much more sensitive than that of the original M6. The M5 could meter down to 30 sec. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rramesh Posted June 23, 2012 Share #192  Posted June 23, 2012 So, no new Leica products at Photokina in 2012? Sounds like a very large, very empty hall. Leica has a lot of experience here. "Leica stores with empty shelves". I think Stefan was quite clear when he said that the Leica booth will features photographs, photo galleries and the Leica experience.  All I discerned from the interview was.  The M is key to Leica and will stay. The M will go through some incremental upgrades over time based on user feedback. The small form factor is key - both camera and lenses. There are new technologies that could be considered. e.g. CCD There will a new camera between the X range and the M range. Leica will continue to be a luxury brand. Leica is in no hurry as production capacity moves up and and dust reduction improves in new facility. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.