andybarton Posted June 11, 2013 Share #1621 Posted June 11, 2013 Advertisement (gone after registration) Now that this camera has been revealed as having nothing in common with an M, shouldn't this massive thread be moved to the X1/X2 forum? It already has been Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted June 11, 2013 Posted June 11, 2013 Hi andybarton, Take a look here Mini M? [MERGED] AKA X-Vario. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
StephenPatterson Posted June 11, 2013 Share #1622 Posted June 11, 2013 It already has been And that pretty much sums up this whole exercise. Behold the X3. You've heard the rumors, now see the truth, the only thing this camera has in common with an M is a stepped down top plate and red dot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted June 11, 2013 Share #1623 Posted June 11, 2013 well of course you will say that. you work for Leica I don't think he works for Leica but he obviously has the right contacts to be able to borrow yet-to-be-announced products. The difference this time (compared to the M Typ 240) is that he hasn't self-indulgently posted his holidays snaps ahead of launch. I imagine he was given a stern talking to the last time we were treated to pictures of apartment blocks, the interior of a Costco supermarket and all the rest while the camera was supposedly still under wraps. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted June 11, 2013 Share #1624 Posted June 11, 2013 So what? It's all marketing. It's got lots of people talking about it and it will sell well. Not to you, but to others. I really really can't understand the fuss here. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted June 11, 2013 Share #1625 Posted June 11, 2013 It already has been It hadn't when I started writing the post... (Great minds think alike) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted June 11, 2013 Share #1626 Posted June 11, 2013 I really really can't understand the fuss here. That's because you are not an M user, Andy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted June 11, 2013 Share #1627 Posted June 11, 2013 Advertisement (gone after registration) Erm... What was I using yesterday afternoon? An M What was my first Leica? An M Thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iforum Posted June 11, 2013 Share #1628 Posted June 11, 2013 the Mini-M looks great as a well positioned & versatile little street & portrait camera People are usually after a camera that is versatile in aperture this is not it especially portraits where a f2 and lower aperture is desirable. Street stuff there are better tools and a m8 or m9 are two examples Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted June 11, 2013 Share #1629 Posted June 11, 2013 Ok, perhaps I should have said Digital M User... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwbell Posted June 11, 2013 Share #1630 Posted June 11, 2013 So what? It's all marketing. It's got lots of people talking about it and it will sell well. Not to you, but to others. I really really can't understand the fuss here. And my fear is that neither can Leica. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted June 11, 2013 Share #1631 Posted June 11, 2013 I am not a Digital M user, as I do not have the money to buy an M240. I fail to see the relevance, to be honest Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IWC Doppel Posted June 11, 2013 Share #1632 Posted June 11, 2013 So the spec is out now, I'm not up on small autofocus cameras, but f6.4 is not exciting and this is a very competitive arena. Anyone shed any light how this differentiates other than badge and seemingly positioning as a small M when it's more of a large X ? I hope it hits the mark but for me this seems a rather expensive lemon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted June 11, 2013 Share #1633 Posted June 11, 2013 M users will feel rightly aggrieved that Leica have poured resources into Portugal to get this camera available from launch while at the same time failing to even scratch the surface of demand - or produce at all - products announced nine months ago, more than a year if you're thinking of the APO 50. I'd be happier if my M Typ 240 was not going back to Solms for the third time tomorrow, this time to be exchanged. While talking about Portugal, I do wonder what the "last significant manufacturing operation" for this camera is which allows them to continue to say "Made in Germany". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
UliWer Posted June 11, 2013 Share #1634 Posted June 11, 2013 It might; it’s hard to say. Googling ‘Leica Mini M’ yields 5.760.000 hits; compared to 6.510.000 hits for ‘Sony RX1’ that’s not too bad. These numbers just show that Leica is performing far below their marketing potential at the moment. Imagine some numbers if there had been a real surprise at the end. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted June 11, 2013 Share #1635 Posted June 11, 2013 I see the camera, now, in a more positive mood.... ... after all, I always fear a Leica announcement that has a risky impact on my pockets... and this one would have been too next to M240... so a sort of sigh of relief Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwbell Posted June 11, 2013 Share #1636 Posted June 11, 2013 Following any of those "Mini M" links and reading what people are saying would be a better litmus test I would say. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted June 11, 2013 Share #1637 Posted June 11, 2013 Parts bin special, slow zoom, expensive. I think Leica have a cheek trailing this as a 'Mini-M', although the very words caused enough scepticism to see through the flummery. At more than the cost of an X-Pro1 Leica seriously need to take some strategic marketing advice before they put pencil to paper again. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archiver Posted June 11, 2013 Share #1638 Posted June 11, 2013 I have no idea what Dr. Rohde looks like, but I always have this image of a trim German fellow in his late forties or early fifties, with stylish steel-framed glasses and a navy blue sailing jacket, and a brassed MP close at hand. It must be quite a lot of fun to be privy to Leica prototypes and preproduction models! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenPatterson Posted June 11, 2013 Share #1639 Posted June 11, 2013 Dr. Rohde may be amazed at how many disparaging comments have been made about the Leica X Vario, but I am not. I believe the disappointment here is that for the very first time Leica have built a camera solely for the luxury market. Now we all know that Leica have a long history, going back over eighty years to the original gold plated Lexus cameras, of taking stock versions of production cameras and turning them into limited editions by the addition of some special script or finish or covering. I think that many dedicated Leica users look at a camera such as the “X2 Limited Edition Paul Smith” or the “M9-P Hermes” and chuckle softly to ourselves. Now however we have something completely new, namely a camera designed from the ground up for the luxury market and branded solely by “Leica”. It’s obvious from the decision to use an f/3.5-6.4 zoom lens that this camera is not aimed at professional photographers, or even high end amateurs. No, this camera is aimed squarely at people who want to set the camera on “P for Program” and click away. The luxury market does not want to buy V-Lux and D-Lux rebadged offerings, they want to spend more and now they can. For Leica's part not having to pay "Hermes" or "Paul Smith" or anyone else marketing royalties is simply icing on the cake, and additional profit to the bottom line. So what’s wrong with this approach? Simply that the decision to dedicate such a significant proportion of Leica’s resources to opening Leica stores in fashion areas around the world, and to stock them with Leica fashion cameras, does not bode well for the future direction of the company for those who value optical performance and IQ above all else. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
k-hawinkler Posted June 11, 2013 Share #1640 Posted June 11, 2013 Do we know where the Leica X Vario is being produced? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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