rosuna Posted March 10, 2008 Share #21 Posted March 10, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) LOL, I agree Microsoft cannot develop 50 state-of-the-art products every year. Windows Vista, anyone? Ok, touché. It was a bad example. It is a shame because I am a Mac user! I was referring to the availability of resources for R&D. Microsoft has deep pockets... the deepest pocket in the industry for many time. Leica has limitations here. Considering this, they have developed a lot of new products in the last 10-15 years. It is a very active company. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted March 10, 2008 Posted March 10, 2008 Hi rosuna, Take a look here Interview with Andreas Kaufmann on Handelsblatt.com. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
vertekijker Posted March 10, 2008 Share #22 Posted March 10, 2008 I like the comment that "the employees have been happy since a few weeks (ago)"... Do you think they had a whip-round to send a certain person on his way? I know what AK's user id is but I'm not telling. Less than 10 posts. A 'Neuer Benutzer'? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubenkok Posted March 10, 2008 Share #23 Posted March 10, 2008 Hi Olaf, Very interesting. We have to wait an see what Leica and Herr Kaufmann will bring. Many thanks Ruben Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted March 10, 2008 Share #24 Posted March 10, 2008 I know what AK's user id is but I'm not telling. Less than 10 posts. You tease <grin>. Less than 10, but more than 0 I assume. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenerrolrd Posted March 10, 2008 Share #25 Posted March 10, 2008 This is an excellent interview and speaks volumes about how the CEO views his business(investment). I would expect a slower more measured pace from Leica going forward. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StS Posted March 10, 2008 Share #26 Posted March 10, 2008 I guess if Leica needs to re-focus, abandoning the 4/3 system will be the least painful step for the customers, since there are ample alternatives. M and R system are a different story. As a M user I shouldn't write this in case 'AK' is reading this however at the moment the only unique element in the M system is the M8 body - anything else could in principle be sourced somewhere else. Summing up, the new direction looks promising, if I read it correctly it would mean a digital CL and a contemporary extension of the R-system. Stefan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aXs Posted March 10, 2008 Share #27 Posted March 10, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) Olaf, during your conversation with Andreas Kaufmann - did he also mention anything about the Leica Flagship-stores? LEICA PARIS - LEICA TOKYO - LEICA BERLIN ? Mr Kaufmann stated "...be assured that everybody here [Leica Camera AG] in Solms follows the LUF-forum discussions quite closely..." So, will Leica Flagship-stores (Tokyo, Berlin, Paris) be re-granted their use of 'Leica' for their domain names and websites? Do a google search (http://www.google.com) for LEICA BERLIN for example. You will find Martin Meister's website and an artist's project/installation using the Leica M8 sponsored by Leica. You will also find LUF-forum threads. Same for art projects/installations in the Leica flagship-store Tokyo. Did Mr Kaufmann say anything else about the pending legal dispute with Steven K. Lee? Kaufmann's main critic regarding Steve K. Lee: "...[Lee's] ever changing stories about the M8..." But I personally think Mr Lee had lots of good ideas for promoting the M8 with creative projects/installations etc - linked to Leica Flagship-stores. I ask you these questions, because possibly your editor shortened the content of the interview for limited printing space in the Handelsblatt newspaper. Axel Axel Sanders Last week I met Andreas Kaufmann for an interview in Solms which is published today on Handelsblatt.com. We just put an english version online: http://www.handelsblatt.com/news/default_200038_1401865.aspx Yours Olaf Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted March 10, 2008 Share #28 Posted March 10, 2008 Did Mr Kaufmann say anything else about the pending legal dispute with Steven K. Lee? If you read the article you'll see the answer to this question. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leicar7 Posted March 10, 2008 Share #29 Posted March 10, 2008 Herr Kaufmann's words are a significant ratcheting back of comments with respect to specific photography products compared to his address to the LHSA: much more circumspect. But his overall theme is the same: Leica will develop products for markets that it has not previously attempted to exploit. The new Leica Park outside Wetzlar will be the production area from which this new Leica company will operate. Fotokina 2008 will be very interesting. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdai Posted March 10, 2008 Share #30 Posted March 10, 2008 Thanks a lot for the interview, I think I've got the answer from Dr. Kaufmann now. They wonder if and how the R system will be continued in the digital world.You can be assured that to us it´s very clear what’s going to happen with regard to the topic SLR. (no mention of "R" anymore) We´re developing a solution which we will present to the public. Will it be on display at the Photokina 2008? This fall in Cologne you will be able to get a clue. Compatibility is a question which moves R users in particular. Will the old R lenses be compatible? I´m sorry but I won´t comment on this topic today. This isn't quite a surprise actually ... I know I can't convince the folks on the forum, but Leica/Dr. Kaufmann will. Regarding the CL, I'm not expecting it anytime soon, not that I'm much less interested in the M in general (although I'm a M user too) but, if Leica doesn't address several issues first, such as reliability, frameline accuracy, rangefinder accuracy .... what's the point to buy it? just because it'll be (slightly) cheaper? Another thing ... Dr. Kaufmann says Leica is gonna actively participating in the forum, does that mean we'll have somebody like Canon's Chuck Westfall here too? It would be super fantastic to have someone who REALLY knows stuff to talk to. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott kirkpatrick Posted March 10, 2008 Share #31 Posted March 10, 2008 Another subject that didn't get addressed in the interview is the rumored "revolt of the channels" against the evident tendency of Mr. Lee to initiate direct sales from Solms -- 30% off lens deals and the initial upgrade proposal which left out the country distributorships. I hope this will get more attention in a follow-up interview soon, as it is also affecting Leica's ability to deliver service without sending everything to Germany. scott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdai Posted March 10, 2008 Share #32 Posted March 10, 2008 I hope this will get more attention in a follow-up interview soon, as it is also affecting Leica's ability to deliver service without sending everything to Germany. Well, if Leica doesn't have a service facility in your area, a middleman could possibly only make it worse ... you give your camera to another person, and another person still has to mail/fedex it. Not to mention Leica dealers aren't everywhere, many folks mail order directly from big outlets. So I have to mail/fedex the camera to a dealer first? not a good idea. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
etienne_werner Posted March 10, 2008 Share #33 Posted March 10, 2008 I can't remember where I read or heard this, but wasn't Leica working on an auto-focus SLR? Might have been pure rumor.. Though if this is the case it wouldn't surprise me if it was downward compatible with the older lenses for the R. It would be like the Nikon D2X which can still use the older lenses that aren't auto focus.Even though I don't have an R system, I could imaging that this would make a lot of R users happy that their investment in R glass could still be used, plus, it would open up a possible new market for Leica for new users that want auto-focus SLR. Regards, Etienne Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
masjah Posted March 10, 2008 Share #34 Posted March 10, 2008 Just to help fellow Forum members in their elimination search, I am happy formally to state that neither "masjah" nor "John Howarth" are aliases for Herr Kaufmann. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted March 10, 2008 Share #35 Posted March 10, 2008 Hah! The old double bluff routine. You fool no one John. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
masjah Posted March 10, 2008 Share #36 Posted March 10, 2008 Hah! The old double bluff routine. You fool no one John. Damn! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aXs Posted March 10, 2008 Share #37 Posted March 10, 2008 stunsworth: as I said, I think Steve K. Lee had lots of good ideas for promoting the M8 with art projects/installations linked to Leica Flagship-stores. (Yes, I've read the article in today's newpaper and Kaufmann's main critic regarding Steve K. Lee: "...[Lee's] ever changing stories about the M8..." ). Also Gero F. (former head of Leica's PR-department) had good PR ideas for "Leica product placement" for filmstars and TV personalities - they received a lot of international media coverage. scott kirkpatrick: And look at LFI Leica-magazine (Nr.2/07 and Nr.3/07) - these were early announcements of Leica sponsored art projects and events for Leica Flagship-stores. Later the whole business of "direct sales" contacts to Solms was going against the financial interests of Leica's Flagship-stores. But creative projects are good for Leica Camera AG. Steve K. Lee was a manager with vision and experimented. Give credit where credit is due. Leica has sold ca. 20-25,000 M8 cameras. Axel Axel Sanders Another subject that didn't get addressed in the interview is the rumored "revolt of the channels" against the evident tendency of Mr. Lee to initiate direct sales from Solms... which left out the country [Leica]distributorships... I hope this will get more attention in a follow-up interview soon... scott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlatkob Posted March 10, 2008 Share #38 Posted March 10, 2008 This was an excellent interview. It asks the right questions right now, and the answers are very good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rweisz Posted March 10, 2008 Share #39 Posted March 10, 2008 I feel he did not say anything. +1. But it's a tribute to Kaufman's expertise at handling interviews (or maybe the unexpertise of a lot of folks at reading them) that nobody else came to that conclusion. The one thing he said that I feel he was being 100% candid was when he said that these internet forums are important. He's seen first hand how speculation and rumors make or break products (not only Leica's). He's also seen how Canon and Nikon keep there future products really tight to there belts and it's clear he believes loose lips sink ships, that "teasers" only lead to more speculation and, in Leica forums's case, mostly negative one's. So he's taking the "no comment" track often. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted March 10, 2008 Share #40 Posted March 10, 2008 Not quite, he was rather explicit in his statements about the future policies of Leica and the commintment to the company. Where he did not want to comment he did not comment. Fair enough. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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