pico Posted July 17, 2013 Share #21 Posted July 17, 2013 Advertisement (gone after registration) One gleaming take-away from the study is the phrase, self-appointed brand managers That's buzz! I love it. We have our share here. . And with that written, we will appear in Google! Real soon now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted July 17, 2013 Posted July 17, 2013 Hi pico, Take a look here Negative product reviews. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
euston Posted July 17, 2013 Share #22 Posted July 17, 2013 At the risk of venturing into amateur brand management, I find the uproar over Leica's Mini M spoof risible. Are photographers really that naïve that they can't spot marketing hype when they see it? I would be happy to be convinced otherwise but I've always assumed that nowadays Leica's marketing was outsourced to Hermès. The luxury trade appears to be the target market. Photographers are a bycatch. It doesn't mean that Leica makes inferior cameras. Far from it. We know they make good cameras. They wouldn't be the kind of luxury brand that they are if they didn't. But it does mean that the kind of marketing they use to appeal to their primary market may be ineffective or counter-productive as far as their photographer market is concerned. Do Blackstone care? I doubt it. They'll be crying all the way to the bank. Don't expect me to take seriously your opinion of a camera if you're basing it on the spec sheet or, worse yet, the way it is being marketed. Hold it, use it, then tell me what you think of it! That is why I attend to what the likes of Jono Slack and Sean Reid have to say about the X Vario. The opinionated head bangers who have never touched the camera are annoying but easily disregarded. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
farnz Posted July 17, 2013 Share #23 Posted July 17, 2013 One gleaming take-away from the study is the phrase,self-appointed brand managers That's buzz! I love it. We have our share here. . And with that written, we will appear in Google! Real soon now. I suspect that Self-appointed Brand Managers are a subset of Armchair CEOs. To be Frank:rolleyes:, there are one or two of those lurking (lounging?) here too. Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted July 17, 2013 Share #24 Posted July 17, 2013 *Sigh*... it must take a superhuman effort to miss the point so completely. I am reminded of what was once said of William Hague - "If you want to find him, just pick up a stick - he will be on the wrong end of it." Let me break it down for you. Please read the following very carefully. I said: The XV is a neither fish nor fowl, described on the menu as fillet steak and served up as hamburger. This has nothing to do with a desire to "categorise" the thing - it is an observation based upon the fact that it does no one thing particularly well. It is a bit of a disappointment in every department, and excels - truly excels - in none. Camera products, like anything else, do not have to fit in pre-made categories to be meaningful. Quite. Nobody said they did. See above. The best break the mould, not disappear within it. READ MY WORDS. My meaning was clear. The XV is so uninspiring it does not even classify as a "me too" effort. It is off the pace. Behind the curve. Not competitive. It does not break the moUld because it is not capable of making any form of significant impact. It is less innovative than a new pencil, in a market that has moved on to roller-balls. It is not about what is important to me - the market will decide. Is that clear now? Is it clear enough for you to stop constantly misinterpreting, jumping to conclusions and misquoting me? What part of the XV being a disappointing, frustrating, too little-too late, poorly marketed mis-step remains unclear? I shall give you this. At least you are direct in your disagreement with my expressed opinions. You do not hide behind mealy-mouthed, passive-aggressive generalised sniping as some are wont to do, bless'em I'm done on this one. Life's too short. Regards, Bill Sent from another Galaxy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted July 17, 2013 Share #25 Posted July 17, 2013 ...it is an observation based upon the fact that it does no one thing particularly well. It is a bit of a disappointment in every department, and excels - truly excels - in none Apart from image quality it would appear. We get it Bill, you don't want one so it's no good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted July 17, 2013 Share #26 Posted July 17, 2013 Apart from image quality it would appear. That is a matter that is so easily overlooked... I really don't understand why people who have no intention of buying a camera (or anything else for that matter) spend such a lot of their time slagging it off. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted July 17, 2013 Share #27 Posted July 17, 2013 Advertisement (gone after registration) I really don't understand why people who have no intention of buying a camera (or anything else for that matter) spend such a lot of their time slagging it off. Because - and I'm generalising here - it helps reinforce their belief that they made the correct choice when they bought something else. The camera is essentially an X2 with a zoom lens. In the film days there was a similar line up of Minilux's. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruhayat Posted July 17, 2013 Share #28 Posted July 17, 2013 I can understand why people are upset over the bait and switch marketing. I did say in another thread that if Leica hadn't done that probably the majority of the vociferous reaction would never have existed. And yet. As to the part of the X Vario being a Mini M: it doesn't have a rangefinder, it doesn't even have an M mount. So it can't be an M. I agree. On the other hand, when I tried it in person, the operation and experience was so similar to an M, that I might as well have been using the 75mm Summarit on my M6. The lens looks like a modern Summarit. The body has about the thickness of a film M. The size is only just smaller than a film M. The heft is familiar. The resistance in the focusing ring is familiar. And so on. It doesn't quack or walk like one, but it is quite like a duck in spirit. I imagine, a chick having been raised by a duck, grows up thinking and behaving as if it's a duck. Okay, I'll stop the nonsense now. But my point stands, though. Blindfold me, spin me around 3 times and then hand me the X Vario, and I may just mistake it for a new M with a 75 or 90 Summarit lens on it. That was my direct experience of it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IkarusJohn Posted July 17, 2013 Share #29 Posted July 17, 2013 John - I must disagree based on many product releases of all types discussed on this forum. For example, just think back to when Aple released the first iPad. Many Forum members damned it even a month before it appeared in their markets, stating why the product is poor, bad or worthless. Some dismissed it for no other reason than they didn't like the name. When I read user comments/reviews I'd really prefer to read only comments and reviews from people who actually used the product. Hi Stu - isn't that just part of the filtering we all do when listening to opinions? We all wondered how the iPad would fit into our lives. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pop Posted July 17, 2013 Share #30 Posted July 17, 2013 ... it is quite like a duck in spirit. ... That's it. I won't buy one. Whoever heard ever of ducks in spirit. In red wine, yes. But in spirit? Please! At least there's one member who thinks it's fowl, anyway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
euston Posted July 18, 2013 Share #31 Posted July 18, 2013 The camera is essentially an X2 with a zoom lens. There is something in what you say but it's not quite right. The body of the X Vario, for example, is bigger than that of the X2. Not by much but by enough to make a big difference to the handling. That is a good example of the kind of thing that can't be reliably assessed from the spec sheet alone. And for balance, nor would you know how easy it is to operate some of the setting controls without meaning to. (A button lock in a firmware update, please Leica.) I'm not saying you are doing, but it would be a mistake to down play the significance of this zoom lens. It's good. If it suits the kind of photography you do, it won't disappoint. We're not all chasing that HCB moment but, even if you are, this camera is perfectly capable of catching it if the photographer is up to the task. With the X Vario you get a competent camera and a versatile optic of Leica quality. And all for the price of a single Leica M lens of the middling kind. Spec sheets never tell the whole story. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carduelis Posted July 20, 2013 Share #32 Posted July 20, 2013 I really don't understand why people who have no intention of buying a camera (or anything else for that matter) spend such a lot of their time slagging it off. I totally agree with you on this matter. As I have remarked in earlier messages, it seems people have an entrenched and too critical a view of what the camera should offer and do not realise that as photographers we all have different photographic interests and demands from the camera. I went and tried out an X Vario at my local dealer and found that the zoom lens was good enough throughout the focal range, I welcomed the autofocus for certain faster paced photographic applications and having a fixed lens gives me no dust on sensor issues. So I bought one. End of story. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted July 23, 2013 Share #33 Posted July 23, 2013 An interesting alternate view: https://medium.com/writers-on-writing/2127e21de6f4 This, I would suggest, aligns with our new "mission statement" and suggests balance rather than "la-la-la not listening" is both necessary and healthy. Regards, Bill Sent from another Galaxy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted July 24, 2013 Share #34 Posted July 24, 2013 Originally Posted by stunsworth The camera is essentially an X2 with a zoom lens. There is something in what you say but it's not quite right... According to A. Kaufman, the X Vario « is an extension of the X series ». Just common sense IMHO. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff S Posted July 25, 2013 Share #35 Posted July 25, 2013 An interesting alternate view: https://medium.com/writers-on-writing/2127e21de6f4 From the article: "Of course, there’s a delicate balance between being smart and provocative, and pissing people off.... This is the time to be brave, to bring up perspectives that push boundaries..." Hardly your mode, which generally just dismisses anything you hate and don't want to own, as others commented above, not to offer anything particularly new or insightful about the product being discussed. Or even acknowledge a single positive aspect that might possibly be embraced by others. Consider the M8, Apple anything, Fogg bags, etc, etc. The list is long, and repetitive. Tiresome. Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IkarusJohn Posted July 25, 2013 Share #36 Posted July 25, 2013 Discuss. Carry on ... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leicafanatics Posted August 31, 2013 Share #37 Posted August 31, 2013 One's Greek and the other's Roman? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.