john_f Posted October 10, 2006 Share #1 Posted October 10, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) FYI, There is an interview in the Dutch website LetsGoDigital.org with Michael Agel, Press and Public Relations at Leica Camera AG, about new Leica products, including the Leica M8: Leica Interview | Digital Camera Review Here a few interesting quotes: "Question : But the traditional Leica user is someone who uses wide angle a lot, they would surely rather have seen a full frame sensor? Answer : Ok, the crop factor of 1.33x is a problem if you want to use ultra-wide angle. We definitely wanted to have full frame. But it is better than nothing ...." "Question : Since DNG can be converted with Photoshop, you don't develop your own software? Answer : We don't have our own RAW converter. But we will deliver software with the Leica M8 to copy the files to the computer. Photoshop is too slow as far as we are concerned." "Question : The M7 is an analogue camera, the M8 a digital one. At the press conference it was clearly said that this doesn't mean that a new M camera won't be an analogue camera. So it is possible that if a M9 appears, it will be using film again? Answer : It is the idea to have two series, one digital and one analogue. But what can we change on the M7? It is perfect and if the M7 will be modified it will probably be called M7-2 or so. With digital we will be changing more often. So I think with the current viewpoint, the Leica M9 will be a digital camera. But there is no policy on that; we like to keep our options open." Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted October 10, 2006 Posted October 10, 2006 Hi john_f, Take a look here Leica interview in LetsGoDigital. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
rob_x2004 Posted October 10, 2006 Share #2 Posted October 10, 2006 What's an 'analogue' camera? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_f Posted October 10, 2006 Author Share #3 Posted October 10, 2006 What's an 'analogue' camera? It's called a typo! "Analogue" is French for "Analog" (English). Keep in mind that http://www.LetsGoDigital.org is first created in Dutch and then translated in five other languages, including English. To be fair, I've seen far worse "goofs" in LFI ! Cheers, John F. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted October 10, 2006 Share #4 Posted October 10, 2006 Analogue is also the correct English spelling... Analog is the US spelling, like Color, Harbor, Aluminum and the rest. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abrewer Posted October 10, 2006 Share #5 Posted October 10, 2006 Thanks for the link, John. This is one of those times when I wish I knew German or Dutch well enough to read the original text. Allan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stnami Posted October 10, 2006 Share #6 Posted October 10, 2006 Ok, the crop factor of 1.33x is a problem if you want to use ultra-wide angle. We definitely wanted to have full frame............ Yea you really would want a guy like this as a PR advertising guru,with this gem. But it is better than nothing a complete wanker Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted October 10, 2006 Share #7 Posted October 10, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) But the text will have gone through several translations - presumably German to Dutch to English. It's very easy for things to get garbled and lose their precise meaning in that process. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry Posted October 10, 2006 Share #8 Posted October 10, 2006 In my work, I deal with PR people all the time. Admittedly his statements seem childishly direct, but I've seen much, much worse than this. Larry Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riley Posted October 10, 2006 Share #9 Posted October 10, 2006 man thats attrocious even i could do better than that Riley Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted October 10, 2006 Share #10 Posted October 10, 2006 No need for the abusive language really is there? I don't see the problem (given that its a translation anyway). We know Leica didn't choose to use a 1.33 crop over full frame, it was a design constraint and we all understand the reasons why. If it was a simple choice over choosing to build FF or crop I've no doubt that Leica would have chosen FF, but as the guy says, it's better than not bothering to build a digital M at all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted October 10, 2006 Share #11 Posted October 10, 2006 No need for the abusive language really is there? I agree. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stnami Posted October 10, 2006 Share #12 Posted October 10, 2006 I refer the term as slang for a person,too preoccupied with oneself and forgetting that there is a buying public and they are fickle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon8202 Posted October 10, 2006 Share #13 Posted October 10, 2006 well it does indeed mean 'preoccupied with oneself' but I'm not sure quite in the way you intended! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guy_mancuso Posted October 10, 2006 Share #14 Posted October 10, 2006 Answer : Ok, the crop factor of 1.33x is a problem if you want to use ultra-wide angle. We definitely wanted to have full frame. But it is better than nothing. Most M-users are working with 28 and 35 mm lenses. Now they have a little bit less wide angle. To compensate for that we introduced the new Tri-Elmar with focal lengths of 16, 18 and 21 mm. This lens can, of course, also be used on the analogue M models. You can even use the first lenses on the M8. For some lenses you need to use an adapter, but it is possible. Lenses of almost 80 years old can still be used. Nobody else can say that. Only one of the lenses has a limitation. The 135 mm has no frame in the viewfinder. I find nothing wrong with this statement. Would you rather the guy BS you to death or tell the truth. He is being honest and he is right, your not going to fool people that buy Leica gear with double talk , we all know they could not build a full frame with existing lenses . You need to read the whole article because throughout the whole thing it sounds like a quiet sit down conversation than a hard core interview. That is the tone of it as you read it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riley Posted October 10, 2006 Share #15 Posted October 10, 2006 i wouldnt ask anyone to lie or anything its just, i would like Leica to do well, and i feel that they need to that PR guy could have been a bit more positive and as a result, capture the interest of more custom, instead he sounded almost resistent, like it was a political compromise We definitely wanted to have full frame. But it is better than nothing there are technicly good reasons for the 1.33x crop i would have preferred he began like that Riley Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronaldh Posted October 10, 2006 Share #16 Posted October 10, 2006 The point that concerned me in the interview was the admission that "with digital we will be changing more often" followed by a reference to the M9. This seems to knock firmly on the head the concept that future improvements can be imported by a software upgrade. The M8 has a solid long-lasting body because that is the Leica, indeed German industrial, tradition and because they always have done. What justifies that concept, and cost, now other than mere nostalgia and the "quality" feel? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted October 10, 2006 Share #17 Posted October 10, 2006 ...I find nothing wrong with this statement... Neither do i, the guy told the simple truth as we all know don't we? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnbuckley Posted October 10, 2006 Share #18 Posted October 10, 2006 Maybe this is the moment to weigh in on this, since someone decided to pick on the Leica communications official who did the interview. First, I thought his interview was fine. It was open, direct, and free of both hype and spin. (I hesitate to state this in the forum, but I am in a position to make this judgement because I run corporate communications for a major consumer brand. What he did was what I ask my employees to do: be direct and open about our mistakes, and enthusiastic about our strengths. Don't engage in spin, don't engage in hype. Be straightforward.) More importantly, this is a moment to praise Leica for the launch of the M8, for their very good job of managing information prior to Photokina, for an excellent Photokina. Objectively, the only negative from a Leica perspective may be that news of the M8 has been so well received, it has drowned out their other products. And as a consumer, and someone who is eagerly waiting to buy the M8, I wish there were more information out there, wish we could see photographs, etc. But the very deliberateness with which they are doing things reflects who they are, and the products they build. Even saying this: they have been far better as communicators and marketers than many of us would have expected. I believe both their communications head and their marketing team have done a superb job breathing life into the brand and creating buzz. The print advertisements breaking at the same time as the product announcements are very good. Now they just need to get the damn camera out the door and in my hands! But please lay off the communications guy who did a good job in that interview. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guy_mancuso Posted October 10, 2006 Share #19 Posted October 10, 2006 I agree John even though I was the Chief Photograper for 15 years at Honeywell , I was under the blanket as we know as communications. This is exactly how they tell there emplyees to act in a interview. Anything else and he would be considered lying through his teeth. No company is perfect and he points that out in a honest fashion and even say we wanted to do that which leads you believe they tried. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted October 10, 2006 Share #20 Posted October 10, 2006 For those who don't like honesty.... Answer "No not at all. After all the first ever Leica had a 5cm lens and the 75mm is one of the most desired M lenses. I don't see any evidence to support your theory that M users like wide angle. We chose the 1.33 crop because of this in fact. It makes some of the wider lenses more useable as now they are not so wide. In fact one is 'cropping' out the extremities of the lens field usually the weaker parts image wise. We did it to enhance the performance of the lens range" Everybody happy? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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