lm_user Posted March 4, 2015 Share #41 Posted March 4, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) Perhaps a larger Red Dot would solve Leica's woes? More seriously, it seems the entire industry is experiencing tough times. Canikon is discounting also. Smartphone cameras are outstanding in good light. The marginal improvement in the new models of cameras is not as enticing given the quality of the cameras we already have. It isn't surprising that sales are slow. Replacing the CEO is the norm - but industry /market conditions are not the fault of the CEO Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted March 4, 2015 Posted March 4, 2015 Hi lm_user, Take a look here New Leica CEO?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
robadibob Posted March 4, 2015 Share #42 Posted March 4, 2015 Please restore the R series. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antonio Russell Posted March 4, 2015 Share #43 Posted March 4, 2015 Yes, the T has to go down as a complete flop. The T is a very nice camera. Not sure why you would say that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lm_user Posted March 4, 2015 Share #44 Posted March 4, 2015 Please restore the R series. Too late Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manoleica Posted March 4, 2015 Share #45 Posted March 4, 2015 To put it bluntly:- Improve QC, More Affordable M cameras & lenses, Better R&D and last but not least, Less Gimmicky stuff.. Go Leica.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robadibob Posted March 4, 2015 Share #46 Posted March 4, 2015 Too late Never too late for good things! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosuna Posted March 4, 2015 Share #47 Posted March 4, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) I don't know about the T, but sales of the S system does not go very well. Look at the price of the new S, and the extended development time because of... 4k video capabilities. The S (like the T) was a risky bet, and they missed the point, because the market changed quite fast (now, sinking). The prices of many Leica products are insane, and those prices increase very fast, every year, sometimes twice a year! It is absurd. All the strategy seems to be based on luxury products (boutiques, prices), and maybe that does not work, or Leica has crossed the red line between "smart" and "crazy". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Martin Posted March 4, 2015 Share #48 Posted March 4, 2015 Lets be honest, the 35mm Leicas will and go on and on, Leica lenses will always be top notch optically, notwithstanding some QC. The digital M Leica's are obsolete even before they ship, as are most digital cameras.. At the end of the day R&D must be more thorough & customer orientated, QC in all it's aspects must be improved (M Range) and retail prices must come down substantially so Leica can appeal to a wider spectrum of photographers..If some choose Leica and are happy to pay a premium, then Leica needs to realise that even the well healed" need minimal quirks, reliability & the highest possible customer service... Good Luck to the new CEO, he certainly has some challenges ahead... Sadly I cancelled my recent order for the M-E, I'm just going to wait awhile.. Probably the most accurate and honest comment I've seen in ages, and one that I think reflects a broad spectrum of Leica user/owners opinions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smoskowitz Posted March 4, 2015 Share #49 Posted March 4, 2015 He should market Leica Digital Cameras more in the U.S. I know he will do a good job as CEO. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy Posted March 4, 2015 Share #50 Posted March 4, 2015 The T is a very nice camera. Not sure why you would say that. Because it hasn't made anything like the splash that Leica hoped it would. Few people are talking about it or considering it - and even fewer are buying it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
james.liam Posted March 4, 2015 Share #51 Posted March 4, 2015 Lets be honest, the 35mm Leicas will and go on and on, Leica lenses will always be top notch optically, notwithstanding some QC. The digital M Leica's are obsolete even before they ship, as are most digital cameras.. At the end of the day R&D must be more thorough & customer orientated, QC in all it's aspects must be improved (M Range) and retail prices must come down substantially so Leica can appeal to a wider spectrum of photographers..If some choose Leica and are happy to pay a premium, then Leica needs to realise that even the well healed" need minimal quirks, reliability & the highest possible customer service... Good Luck to the new CEO, he certainly has some challenges ahead... Sadly I cancelled my recent order for the M-E, I'm just going to wait awhile.. Spot on. The obsolescence at introduction of these digital cams is at the heart of an unsustainable paradigm--for all manufacturers. The solution originally conceived of by Leica, namely the DMR, should have been the path taken by all, particularly by Leica with its limited resources (for M as well as S bodies). Justifying a boutique M in this day and age (with decrepit and non-upgradable electronics) becomes tougher for users as their eyesight fades entering middle age (the demographic that can afford an $8000 camera body), while the Sony alpha lines become more compelling. Like it or not, changes to the M will necessarily be more dramatic than most are used to. But little choice remains. The Zeiss formula for success--lens design only, which Leica has tried to emulate with Panasonic, isn't a bad one. Taking it a step further with a line of E-mount lenses, made in Wetzlar, isn't much of a leap and would immediately supply capital for other pressing projects. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterv Posted March 4, 2015 Share #52 Posted March 4, 2015 The Zeiss formula for success--lens design only, which Leica has tried to emulate with Panasonic, isn't a bad one. Taking it a step further with a line of E-mount lenses, made in Wetzlar, isn't much of a leap and would immediately supply capital for other pressing projects. This! Today, I received a newsletter from our admin, Andreas, asking for our advice to the new CEO. I have been meaning to write a long post about "the Zeiss-option" but couldn't find the time, yet. Anyhow, I'd like to see Leica produce adapters for their S lenses, like they did with the Hassy and Contax lenses for the S camera. Imagine S adapters for Nikon, Canon and Sony E mount with full functionality. Kind of like the quite successful Otus lenses, only with AF, aperture control and wheather sealing. IMHO, Leica would find a market for this. Lots of 24x36 'Kleinbild' users are looking for high quality lenses with high resolving power for their 37-50 MP cameras. The S lenses have great MTF's, for FF even better. The Zeiss Otii are around the same price and are f1,4 but manual focus, no wheather sealing, no auto aperture. Though nice, people find them difficult to operate. (Try to focus manually through the tunnel like CaNikon OVF's @ f1,4) This way, Leica could sell quite a few S lenses, that are already developed and payed for, make the S system more known, and gain prestige with the so called FF-crowd. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooky Posted March 4, 2015 Share #53 Posted March 4, 2015 I don't know about the T, but sales of the S system does not go very well. Look at the price of the new S, and the extended development time because of... 4k video capabilities. The S (like the T) was a risky bet, and they missed the point, because the market changed quite fast (now, sinking). The prices of many Leica products are insane, and those prices increase very fast, every year, sometimes twice a year! It is absurd. All the strategy seems to be based on luxury products (boutiques, prices), and maybe that does not work, or Leica has crossed the red line between "smart" and "crazy". Just as important, when they went with the S they took 3 years or so of R users who were waiting for the digital R and all the rumors and free web-driven anticipation and.....brought an uber expensive small medium format instead that offered no capabilities for R users to stay with the Leica family product tree. I place the decisions squarely with Kaufmann. Yes, he used his money to 'save' (temporarily?) the brand, but early on, there were grumblings when he canned Steven Lee who was a proponent of the R system. Then there were the continuing promises of an R solution that took FOUR years and that was the M240. FOUR years in a rapidly changing market is a lifetime for the R user that was waiting/hoping it all to be true. As has been pointed out, the big players are scrambling to stay relevant, and they have the best chance to survive the fast market changes - plus they have years of knowledge, tech, and profits. Kaufmann may have learned by now, or maybe not, but Blackstone isn't going to wait for him much longer. He's made some real costly mistakes, and profiteers don't really care to give repeat chances. I think Kaufmann really needs to sit back and be invisible before the company does a final dive.....In my opinion Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IkarusJohn Posted March 4, 2015 Share #54 Posted March 4, 2015 Because it hasn't made anything like the splash that Leica hoped it would. Few people are talking about it or considering it - and even fewer are buying it. So it's a marketing flop, rather than something inherently wrong with the camera. I have the T and I like it - it's the perfect companion to my more "manual" M cameras - it has AF, it does video, it has a zoom, it can be a point and shoot, and it takes my M lenses. The image quality is very good, it uses a high quality 16MP Sony sensor. What's not to like? In terms of market failure, I think Leica has done pretty much everything to make it stand out, other than using its CMSOSIS full frame sensor. It has a distinctive body, it has the luxury appeal Leica likes to push and it is very innovative in the user interface (which is really very good) - only problems, snobbish comments about an "average" sensor and, of course, the price. I suspect the problem is the price ... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted March 4, 2015 Share #55 Posted March 4, 2015 I have the T and I like it - [...] it uses a high quality 16MP Sony sensor. It does? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted March 4, 2015 Share #56 Posted March 4, 2015 The issue is not the sensor, it is the sub-par, style-over-substance body in which it is mounted. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Martin Posted March 4, 2015 Share #57 Posted March 4, 2015 The Leica T can't do anything that a Sony 6000 won't for a fraction of the price. If you were to put the Zeiss glass onto it then I'd suggest the Leica can't improve in terms of quality Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGodParticle/Hari Posted March 4, 2015 Share #58 Posted March 4, 2015 1. Better quality control for the M range (I don't know about the other product lines) 2. Faster service turnaround time (even small repairs take weeks/months) 3. More focus on the everyday user and slightly lesser on the Limited Editions. I'm happy if Leica make higher profits from these Limited Editions. I want Leica to be a very profitable and successful company but it irritates me when my M9 and MM still have the shutter issue after many years, to see Leica proudly announcing the next super expensive limited edition with some cosmetic changes. Not just bodies but also lenses. My multi thousand € super duper technically advanced and revolutionary APO75/2ASPH flares worse than a 10€ plastic lens. This ties back in with 1. above. Focus. On. Your. Customers. I'm happy you've been working hard to fix broken stuff but they shouldn't be broken in the first place. For any money. ESPECIALLY when you charge thousands of euros and send the broken items with hand signed "proof of quality" certificates Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manoleica Posted March 4, 2015 Share #59 Posted March 4, 2015 How about having 3 genuine Leica owners @ Wetzlar as Consultants.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
james.liam Posted March 4, 2015 Share #60 Posted March 4, 2015 Whether the T, M or S, they must do things that much better to demand both continual loyalty and price. Want to maintain price point and sell $8000 M or $25k S? --Drop in a 100MP sensor with built in hardware down-sampling that generates images no one else can match. Don't stick a 16MP ?Sony sensor in a T and call it a day. Want loyalty? --Don't continue to peddle the M-E with its 8 year old, 18MP CCD with limited ISO range to attract new users; a sensor destined to corrode. How annoyed do you imagine a newbie who plonked down cash for the 'starter' Leica must be? Think they'll come back again? That camera, and maybe the Monochrome, should have been pulled as new items once the corrosion issue came known. Focus! Is the T really meaningful? Does the umpteenth D-Lux model do much more (or anything at all) better than its Panasonic sister to raise the brand's identity? Sell partially perfected products? --The flaring issue that required the $8k 50 APO to be immediately recalled, is inexcusable. As are $3-10k lenses that leave Wetzlar with glaring issues far too often. --Preserve the investment? What I'd like to see is for them go back to modular digital backs so that a finely machined M body isn't discarded after 5 years because it's no longer relevant. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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