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Will Zenit’s Full Frame Mirrorless a Challange to the Leica SL ?

SilentShutter

By SilentShutter
in Leica SL System

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earleygallery

earleygallery

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Posted

Run into this article on accident - still shaking my head - who wants to buy a Zenit ?

 

https://petapixel.com/2017/09/16/zenits-full-frame-mirrorless-camera-rebranded-leica-sl-rumor-says/

 

Russians?

 

If it's true, maybe it's a part of a strategy to sell more into Russia by Leica. But it's a most unlikely partnership!

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earleygallery

earleygallery

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Posted

Which Russian would prefer a Zenith over a Leica? Where is the status in that?

 

Russian people are loyal to 'their' home grown products. I get the impression that trend is getting stronger more recently. It's just the impression I'm getting from what I see through my line of work. I did find this snippet after a quick google...

 

Landor’s Russian Consumer Report 2014, released in December 2013, revealed that 45% of Russian consumers believe that Russian brands understand what’s right for Russians better than Western brands do, yet the report states that international brands outperform Russian brands in terms of innovation, prestige, style and quality. “Russians’ culture and tastes are very different than Western people’s and they respect the quality of Western brands, but they use them in their own way,” says Emma Beckmann, country director for Russia who works in Landor’s Moscow office. “Russians don’t adhere to Western trends, and as much as they like the quality of goods that are produced in the West, when you give them the choice, they’re more likely to choose the brands that best understand their world and generally, that means the Russian option. If Russian brands upped their game and delivered quality that was up to Western standards, they’d make a killing in the Russian market.”

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ynp

ynp

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As a Russian national, who began doing photography with the soviet cameras FED-5v and Zenit-3m, I will welcome any decent digital camera made in Russia. Maybe I will buy one to support the manufacturer. But I doubt that Krasnogorsk plant still has the level of expertise to mass produce cameras and lenses. BTW Krasnogorsk plant belongs to the military industrial concern Shvabe (http://www.shvabe.com/en/) and they have been reviving the optical industry for the last several years. They are trying to offer the civilian products for export and I would not be surprised if they try to do something with the brands they control.

 

Yevgeny

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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steppenw0lf

steppenw0lf

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Posted (edited)

Hasselblad tried to rebrand the Sony cameras which were very successful. Hasselblas wasn't.

Why should anybody rebrand the SL - after there has been such a lot of doubt if it is successful (commercially) ?

 

Only question that interests me: Which special or additional lenses are planned by Zenit ?  But in the end I doubt that they are worth the effort to buy them, sorry.

Edited by steppenw0lf
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geetee1972

geetee1972

Posted
Posted (edited)

Hasselblad tried to rebrand the Sony cameras which were very successful. Hasselblas wasn't.

Why should anybody rebrand the SL - after there has been such a lot of doubt if it is successful (commercially) ?

 

Only question that interests me: Which special or additional lenses are planned by Zenit ?  But in the end I doubt that they are worth the effort to buy them, sorry.

 

Because what Zenit is going to do is the reverse of what Hasselblad did with Sony. They're going to take an SL, put it into a Zenit branded body and sell it for half the price of the SL.

At this point, the Lecia version will look exactly like the Hasselblad rebadged versions of the cheaper Sony cameras.

 

Serioualy, if anyone thinks that the SL in and of itself is materially worth the 200% permium over the equivalent from either Sony, Fuji or Nikon or Canon then fair enough. Clearly it's not. The M rangefinder models only command the premium they do because they are RFs and there isn't another RF camera on the market. So if you want a Range Finder and only a Range Finder, Leica can charge you what they want.

 

the SL is lovely - I have one, I love it etc. It has two game changing features as far as I can tell though, i.e. features that you simply cannot get elsewhere. They are the quality and size of the EVF and the ability to mount M lenses and get native levels of performance. These two things are not available elsewhere.

 

If you're using the SL with a native AF lens, then you can get that experience directly from Sony or Fuji or indirectly from Nikon, Canon or Pentax (because they don't have EVF). That doesn't make it a bad choice, but most people will look at the price and wonder why the hell anyone would pay it.

 

But a cheaper alternative that is ostensibly the same camera with a different badge that you can still mount M mount lenses to and get great performance? That's a smart choice. It's like buying a Skoda Superb rather than an Audi A6; same car different badge, 20% cheaper (hey I drive a Skoda Superb!)

 

The smart thing with this move is that you won't alientate most of your Leica clientele because for them/us, the Zenit badge is too down market. Most people buy a Lecia because hey, it's a Leica. But really it's about 'relative percevied value' - value is never absolute, it's always relative and it's always perceptual.

Edited by geetee1972
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Ko.Fe.

Ko.Fe.

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It is not first time some new Soviet style apparatchiks tells how they are going to make digital Zenit. It was circulating year before at least. If not before.

 

Due to multiple sanctions applied on Russia and by Russia on-itself  and due to their official policy to replace the import with "locally" made "cost effective" products. Like sea food or French cheese from Belarus. Or "Russian" mobile phone with made in China components. Or Russian robot from Lego parts. 

But knowing Russia corruption schema and knowing how West capitalism is ready to be involved if quick money to be paid (money has no smell on it), I'm optimistic it is very possible with Leica or else. It is not about as business for profit on Russian side. It is about back to USSR propaganda to show the World how Russia is independent from the bad West. And some nostalgia about great USSR times as well. Zenit was popular export model.

 

Yes, plenty of rich folks in Russia or rich RT watchers outside who will buy it because of the "Zenit" and "made in Russia" labels on it.

Honestly, if it is going to be FF Leica for the price of original Zenit, I will also buy one, no, two... :)

But I would prefer digital FED to compliment my family FED-2 which I'm keep on using for 30+ years by now.

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