End of March/ Early April

[MarkP]

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It will be here when it's here.

First world problem .

 

In the meantime we will all just have to suffer with our current really crappy Leica cameras that take really crappy pictures.

[dalfrednix]

Because the photokina is a bi-annual event in September? There was already some disappointment when Leica didn’t announce the M (aka M10) in May, even when that had never been the plan. If the M hadn’t shown up at photokina, would everyone have been happy about that? Of course not.

 

And why would spending another six month not knowing what Leica’s plans where with the M system be preferable to knowing what would come? In September we all knew it would take another couple of months before the new M would actually be available, but least we knew what to look forward to.

 

Without finalized firmware I'm not sure we do know what to look forward to.

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

[canlogic]

Trying to find where Leica has announced this ? BH always does this with new products they post expected delivery dates and when it gets close they push it out another 60 days. I doubt very much that Leica has told them it will be available then. As others have said it will ship when they feel it's ready. Could be next week or April.

[AlanG]

I don't think it is that unusual for there to be unexpected delays with products first shown at Photokina.

 

Not to compare the two but I'm sure thousands are also anxiously awaiting their Hasselblad Lunars.

Edited February 16, 2013 by AlanG

[FleeceJohnson]

Misinformed by whom? You doubted that I got the dates from Leica. Obviously Leica can tell you one thing and tell me another. What I object to is that you doubt for one minute that I am telling the truth. Shame on you. If you call me a liar then you are also calling Leica a liar. I would not have expected that from you. Stop digging and apologise.

 

LOL

[FleeceJohnson]

I cancelled my order with B&H and went to the local Leica dealer today and now I am #1 on the list there, so i'm pretty much guaranteed to get mine, whenever they decide to release them.

[MarkP]

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I cancelled my order with B&H and went to the local Leica dealer today and now I am #1 on the list there, so i'm pretty much guaranteed to get mine, whenever they decide to release them.

 

 

I'm #1 with my dealer having placed my order the day the M was announced.

How did you get to #1 placing an order today?

[rramesh]

Word is the firmware needs further tweaking.

You mean a 'firmdate' update?

[Guest snowboarder]

It’s the same processor.

 

so it's pretty much 6 years old, great

[andybarton]

The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

 

There's nothing much wrong with the Maestro processor in the S2

[brill64]

You silly boys..!! Stop drunk texting & shake hands.

[rscheffler]

I don't understand Leica's marketing philosophy. Why introduce a new M camera in mid September only to have potential buyers wait for SEVEN MONTHS!!

 

Introduce the camera only AFTER the firmware is satisfctory for use by photographers.

They would have been better off with an April introduction followed by a May release. I know, I know, they wanted to show during Photokina!

 

As a small business owner I would never advertize a new product at a major trade fair without being able to assure the potential buyer that the item will be ready to ship in less than one month.

 

Can someone please explain this approach to marketing a camera or the lack thereof?

 

As a small business owner you may not have a brand with dedicated customers, such as Leica's, where enough people will be patient enough to wait.

 

Not so unusual Canon introduced the 1DX, and it was release quite a number of months later than was originally expected! I had mine on order for 6 months, and I preordered day 1.

 

What's worse is if you're hoping to get the new Canon 200-400. Since initial announcement (that it was in development), it has been probably around two years... I'm just hoping to get one by the end of August (the 200-400, that is).

[rscheffler]

This raises questions about IP sharing between Fujitsu and Leica. I can't help but wonder whether similar designs are present in the X-series cameras from Fujitsu. It doesn't seem unreasonable.

 

The X-series cameras are from Fujifilm, not Fujitsu – two entirely unrelated companies.

 

Fujitsu Microelectronics (to be exact) calls the processor Milbeaut, and in their literature they indicate versions are also used by manufacturers such as Nikon, Pentax and Sigma.

[rscheffler]

The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

 

There's nothing much wrong with the Maestro processor in the S2

 

Well, I guess. It does the job according to the M240's specs. And the M9 gets by with the M8's components.

 

However, there is some unhappiness about the 30fps live view readout as well as the inability to scroll the zoomed in live view image. Features that might not be critical to many core Leica users, but which will be questioned by those potentially interested in the system for the first time, despite its extremely rarefied price point. Comments from those in the know in other posts indicate the restrictions are processor related. One can only speculate that using a circa 2012 version of Fujitsu's Milbeaut processor might have resolved those limitations.

 

Unfortunately this harkens back somewhat to the M8-M9 transition, where a nice 'new' FF sensor was adopted, but the M8's already creaky components were shuffled over rather than starting from fresh. The explanation given by Leica at the time was limited resources, which I believe, since prior to the M9 they seemed to be on the edge. And taking on two system developments at that time (M9 and S2) was quite ambitious. Now, 3 years after the success of the M9, where cash-flow is better and experience has been gained, yet they apparently port over a roughly 5-year-old processor to run a modern sensor and resource intensive feature set? This feels too much like cutting corners. There is probably a logical answer, but from the outside, it doesn't feel right.

[mjh]

Misinformed by whom? You doubted that I got the dates from Leica. Obviously Leica can tell you one thing and tell me another. What I object to is that you doubt for one minute that I am telling the truth.

Brett, I apologise for my terse reply that could be construed as accusing you of lying. That wasn’t my intention. It is just that what you have been told is at odds with what I have been told.

[mjh]

One can only speculate that using a circa 2012 version of Fujitsu's Milbeaut processor might have resolved those limitations.

The development of a completely new camera takes a lot of time and some decisions made early on aren’t revised later. You start with what you have and can rely on, and you don’t necessarily change horses in mid-development. There will always be interesting things happening in parallel, but if you did wait to incorporate any new and improved component, this would just slow down development.

[marknorton]

Yes, with a new sensor and new body design, I can imagine Leica wished to stay with the image processor they have experience of in the S2.

[jonoslack]

Brett, I apologise for my terse reply that could be construed as accusing you of lying. That wasn’t my intention. It is just that what you have been told is at odds with what I have been told.

 

I think it depends who you talk to and on which day. Important to be gentle with each other about this stuff, I'm sure were all honestly telling what we've been told.

[FleeceJohnson]

I'm #1 with my dealer having placed my order the day the M was announced.

How did you get to #1 placing an order today?

 

Just luck. Not many photographers in the area know this is a Leica dealer, let alone news about the new M. They had one on order because they are a small outfit and they confirmed nobody has claimed it yet, so now that bad boy is mine.

Edited February 16, 2013 by FleeceJohnson

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[sisoje]

Just luck. Not many photographers in the area know this is a Leica dealer, let alone news about the new M. They had one on order because they are a small outfit and they confirmed nobody has claimed it yet, so now that bad boy is mine.

 

Congrats!

 

You will be a great beta tester for all of us:D

 

The new camera will eventually be here and after all new born issues IT WILL BE GREAT;)

 

Great images will be produced with New M all over the world (just like with M8 and M9) These 2 more months of "delay" will be fast forgoten...