Will this brand ever move into the present?

[John Ricard]

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I got an email from Leica yesterday that promoted an event at the Leica Store in Washington, DC USA with photographer Neal Preston.  I wasn't familiar with him but it turns out he'll be showing images and sharing stories of touring with, "rock and legends like Led Zeppelin, The Who and Queen".  Why does Leica feel the need to focus on the past so much?  Leica acts as if it was the only brand around in the 60's and 70's.  Nikon could easily boast of their legacy of photographing Woodstock, Apollo astronauts, presidents, etc, but instead they are focused on the present.  I fail to see how this obsession with Jim Marshall and the like helps brand the company as relevant in today's photographic world.

[Guest]

24 minutes ago, John Ricard said:

I got an email from Leica yesterday that promoted an event at the Leica Store in Washington, DC USA with photographer Neal Preston.  I wasn't familiar with him but it turns out he'll be showing images and sharing stories of touring with, "rock and legends like Led Zeppelin, The Who and Queen".  Why does Leica feel the need to focus on the past so much?  Leica acts as if it was the only brand around in the 60's and 70's.  Nikon could easily boast of their legacy of photographing Woodstock, Apollo astronauts, presidents, etc, but instead they are focused on the present.  I fail to see how this obsession with Jim Marshall and the like helps brand the company as relevant in today's photographic world.

I agree, I was a working photographer, ( editorial / fashion and some R&R stuff ), in London in those days and my main camera systems were Nikon, Hasselblad, Pentax (6x7), Rollie' WA & Tele TLR's and yes Leica M2/M3's. Of all of those the Nikons were easily the most heavily used with the larger format cameras running second and chosen per' their suitability for each shoot, Leica M's had their place for sure but they weren't the workhorses as were the others, at least in my experience. I still have three Nikon FtN 2's from those days and one Penatx 6x7 and they are going as good as ever with only a very rare CLA every few years of heavy usage. I loved the Leica M's back then, still do now as I own several of differing flavours, but they weren't as bullet proof as the Nikons that's for sure and tended to go out as B cameras unless the situation required quieter gear, ( rarely so in my field of work then ). Many PJ's liked the Leica M's back then for sure, but here again the Nikons tended to rule too with the M's used for wider lenses and the SLR's for better reach with fast telephoto's.

Only when I was working in film and around film-sets in the 80's and 90's in the US did the Leica M's come back into their own whilst Nikons were encased in Blimps to quieten them and make their operation rather awkward..........But yes you're right, for the days of rock and roll right up to digital times Nikons and Hassies ruled.

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[Jeff S]

The M is different; no other company still regularly produces rangefinder cameras.  Part of the allure is the legacy and backward compatibility of virtually all M lenses ever produced.  A unique customer base and marketing opportunity. 
 

The other Leica products present different marketing challenges and opportunities.  So, too, might a future M, if and when an EVF or hybrid VF comes to pass.

Jeff

 

[Al Brown]

Leica M has brutally rich historic legacy and is itself a niche product. The company aims to market the contour of the Leica M legend by fetishizing it. Such marketing - even though in this case it is some 70's rock'n'roll stuff - seems to work very well with potential Leica M customers. For "moving into the present", as @John Ricard titled the thread, Leica uses other models, especially the SL/SL2 and Q, which are very "now" cameras, focused on the present, with no real historic legacy at all.
I strongly suggest everyone who is interested in the phenomenon of such marketing approach should read the book LEICA - VIEWS OF BRAND CULTURE by Albus & Heine, especially the chapter "Leica - the brand. A myth brought into focus".

[jaapv]

Quote

Will this brand ever move into the present?

No.

[Luke_Miller]

16 hours ago, jaapv said:

No.

Nor should it.  For the same reason Leica continues to produce film M models, the digital versions will continue in current form.  If one needs a "modern" camera there are plenty of other choices, including some by Leica.

[shanefking]

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On 9/22/2021 at 7:02 AM, John Ricard said:

I got an email from Leica yesterday that promoted an event at the Leica Store in Washington, DC USA with photographer Neal Preston.  I wasn't familiar with him but it turns out he'll be showing images and sharing stories of touring with, "rock and legends like Led Zeppelin, The Who and Queen".  Why does Leica feel the need to focus on the past so much?  Leica acts as if it was the only brand around in the 60's and 70's.  Nikon could easily boast of their legacy of photographing Woodstock, Apollo astronauts, presidents, etc, but instead they are focused on the present.  I fail to see how this obsession with Jim Marshall and the like helps brand the company as relevant in today's photographic world.

You bring up an interesting point.  

 
I think most of the people who can afford Leicas, and thus the most engaged buyers, are Boomer generation.  Probably the same goes for the people who run the show. 

I think Leica already knows that as a luxury brand, they are generally *not* relevant to the vast majority of commercial photographers, but are rather an aspirational brand.  In other words, they are not really in competition with Canon or Sony, they are selling the dream & association with classic artists that kids 40-50 years ago dreamed of meeting, as much as they are selling cameras.

[Gobert]

Reason I am using an M is because it is an M.

I don’t want anything else anymore and I’ve owned quite some finger licking pro-Nikon equipment in the past.

[pgk]

On 9/22/2021 at 3:02 PM, John Ricard said:

IWhy does Leica feel the need to focus on the past so much?

I'm not so sure that its just the past. I don't now why Leica don't see the M as a more rounded tool that they seem to. Whilst it can be used for bands and street and so on, its a far more versatile system, within its limitations. But targetting it at areas where other equipment is just as effective is a bit self-limiting to me. I don't think that Leica's marketting is nearly as effective as it could be for the M. That said the current prices are too high IMO to compete with other gear on specification anyway so they need to figure out where to promote the M and who to do so to. Limiting its appeal in terms of showing old applications for the M is a bit contradictory to me.

[lookbook]

Am 22.9.2021 um 16:02 schrieb John Ricard:

I got an email from Leica yesterday that promoted an event at the Leica Store in Washington, DC USA with photographer Neal Preston.  I wasn't familiar with him but it turns out he'll be showing images and sharing stories of touring with, "rock and legends like Led Zeppelin, The Who and Queen".  Why does Leica feel the need to focus on the past so much?  Leica acts as if it was the only brand around in the 60's and 70's.  Nikon could easily boast of their legacy of photographing Woodstock, Apollo astronauts, presidents, etc, but instead they are focused on the present.  I fail to see how this obsession with Jim Marshall and the like helps brand the company as relevant in today's photographic world.

... i can't understand why you are worried about leica's marketing.
it will certainly be changed if it is no longer successful.

[Herr Barnack]

13 minutes ago, Gobert said:

Reason I am using an M is because it is an M.

I don’t want anything else anymore and I’ve owned quite some finger licking pro-Nikon equipment in the past.

Gobert for the win!! 😎

Quote

 I fail to see how this obsession with Jim Marshall and the like helps brand the company as relevant in today's photographic world.

Jim Marshall was more or less the Henri Cartier-Bresson of music/musician photography of his era. 

Would you would also suggest that we toss Cartier-Bresson and his work into the dustbin of history?

[Herr Barnack]

19 hours ago, jaapv said:

No.

Perhaps the M11 will be a 24x36mm wet plate collodion camera...

[pgk]

10 minutes ago, Herr Barnack said:

Jim Marshall was more or less the Henri Cartier-Bresson of music/musician photography of his era. 

Would you would also suggest that we toss Cartier-Bresson and his work into the dustbin of history?

W A Poucher was an extraordinarily succesful landscape and mountain photographer with dozens of books to his name (put his name into an eBay search to find some). He revolutionised mountain climbing guide books too. He shot on Barnacks and perhaps Ms later on. And yet Leica rarely promote their cameras for this sort of usage. I find this odd myself. And its not disparaging those other photographers (although Jim Marshall is not a household name and C-B is probably only known by those interested in Magnum type photography now) but about broadening appeal and potetially additional sales.

[Herr Barnack]

  @pgk  If I were going into the mountains, an M camera and one or perhaps two lenses would be my kit - or maybe just my Q2.

At high altitudes, that's about all I would be capable of carrying these days.  The Official Leica Chicken ain't what he used to be.  😳

Edited September 23, 2021 by Herr Barnack

[wizard]

vor 6 Minuten schrieb Herr Barnack:

Perhaps the M11 will be a 24x36mm wet plate collodion camera...

Electronic wet plate collodion camera that is 🙂.

[Chuck Albertson]

On 9/22/2021 at 7:02 AM, John Ricard said:

Why does Leica feel the need to focus on the past so much? 

They don't. Take a look at the company blog, https://www.leica-camera.blog/, which features a lot of contemporary work, shot with the M and their newer cameras. I've been to a lot of presentations at the local Leica store by photographers who are shooting right-now work. Though one of the coolest *was* with Jim Marshall, about 20 years ago.

[stevieg]

15 hours ago, Herr Barnack said:

  @pgk  If I were going into the mountains, an M camera and one or perhaps two lenses would be my kit - or maybe just my Q2.

At high altitudes, that's about all I would be capable of carrying these days.  The Official Leica Chicken ain't what he used to be.  😳

 

15 hours ago, pgk said:

W A Poucher was an extraordinarily succesful landscape and mountain photographer with dozens of books to his name (put his name into an eBay search to find some). He revolutionised mountain climbing guide books too. He shot on Barnacks and perhaps Ms later on. And yet Leica rarely promote their cameras for this sort of usage. I find this odd myself. And its not disparaging those other photographers (although Jim Marshall is not a household name and C-B is probably only known by those interested in Magnum type photography now) but about broadening appeal and potetially additional sales.

Interestingly, I have recently bought a number of Pouchers books with the view of a peri-retirement project of re-photographing some of his images. Not sure how far I'll get, but the majority of his photo's were taken with a IIIa along with 35, 50 and 90mm lenses, with the 50 being the most used. To be honest, it's mainly an excuse to get back out into the hills of Scotland and Cumbria with what is likely to be either an M10-R or the new M11 (with my trusty M240 as backup-it's been on the summit of Scafel Pike and Old Man of Storr in the winter and still going strong!!) The "M" is a very versatile camera and it's compactness and light weight combined with a few "m" lenses is substantially less than my GFX100s and lenses. (a few Kg lighter!!). I would welcome a more diverse marketing/appeal for the use of "M" cameras.

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[Jon Warwick]

2 hours ago, stevieg said:

 

Interestingly, I have recently bought a number of Pouchers books with the view of a peri-retirement project of re-photographing some of his images. Not sure how far I'll get, but the majority of his photo's were taken with a IIIa along with 35, 50 and 90mm lenses, with the 50 being the most used. To be honest, it's mainly an excuse to get back out into the hills of Scotland and Cumbria with what is likely to be either an M10-R or the new M11 (with my trusty M240 as backup-it's been on the summit of Scafel Pike and Old Man of Storr in the winter and still going strong!!) The "M" is a very versatile camera and it's compactness and light weight combined with a few "m" lenses is substantially less than my GFX100s and lenses. (a few Kg lighter!!). I would welcome a more diverse marketing/appeal for the use of "M" cameras.

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Fantastic images, and lovely words. And i agree, I'd like to see a more diverse use of M cameras. In my case, I've similarly used the Ms a lot in the hills, from 5000-6000 metre ones in Chile with an M4-P, and more recently the M240 in the French Alps. The compact size (and to a lesser extent the weight) is wonderfully ignorable in a rucksack compared to my other cameras (I also have a GFX100S + 63mm lens that replaced the even heavier SL2 + SL prime).  Good luck with the project.

[TeleElmar135mm]

Only one word: Leica and the M is in the present!

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20 hours ago, shanefking said:

I think most of the people who can afford Leicas, and thus the most engaged buyers, are Boomer generation.  

depends on which part of the world you're in in the last few weeks ive seen several young teenagers with leicas ranging from m10R's to Q2's and Mp3's with noctilux 1.2  etc etc etc, saw a young man in his late 20's buying an M10R this morning at one of the Leica shops.