If you want to be depressed...

[KM-25]

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You shouldn't be in Iraq.

 

Umm...I am not and have no intention of being there..

 

It was just a joke..

[Guest stnami]

It was just a joke.. lame at that!

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The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[PeterP]

Looks like Leica issued a 'Wehrmacht' edition but could not sell it to the Bundeswehr , so they are now peddling it as a 'Safari' edition.

[jrc]

"I'm wondering whether this camera will come with a modified S-mode (Safari Mode, for the uninitiated). Press the info button and the camera will display a range of wild animals to help you identify them, just in case you never could figure out: Is that an elephant or a giraffe?"

 

I find that you can get excellent wildlife shots by sitting on a couch and tuning a high-res TV to the Nature Channel. I recommend a Nocti because it gives you about the right field of view (at least from my couch) and you don't need any depth of field at all, of course. No bugs, no snakes, no airports, lots of action, and the light's always good. When I was married, my wife would yell at me and I could pretend it was jungle noises.

 

"You shouldn't be in Iraq."

 

Why not? Lots of interesting stuff going on there. I went, and I liked it. Of course, I wasn't actually fighting anyone; nor they me.

[Guest stnami]

"You shouldn't be in Iraq."

 

Why not? Lots of interesting stuff going on there. I went, and I liked it. Of course, I wasn't actually fighting anyone; nor they me.

...............wrong context

[underground]

It would be nice if you could calk the shutter manually.

Thats the only thing that would be worth while to me.

 

as for the silver "28" It works the same as the black one.

No big deal to me.

[gwelland]

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Damn - say what you will about Leica special editions but I have to admit that this is one very good looking camera combo.

 

If they offered it as a regular option then I'd buy one. I wouldn't pay a huge premium for one though.

[wilfredo]

Let's hope that the converse is true though. The special edition cameras earn money and some of that money goes into R & D.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

 

 

If this is true, we all benefit. It sounds like they know that if they build it, they will sell it. Easy money, why not? I won't buy it but their are a bunch of very rich CEO's out there who are getting retention pay in the millions right here at home from the government bailout. Those fat cats could easily buy it with their spare change.

[michali]

I'm signing up for both the camera & the trip! This is going to be one wild & dangerous safari, with only a 28mm lens. If we zone-focus on 2.5 meters, we can capture all the thundering rogue elephant hooves & leaping tiger fangs.

 

Kirk

 

(PS, agree with Sean!)

 

Here's a shot I took yesterday morning with my M8.2 (non safari version) & Tri-Elmar @ 16mm, while on safari.

[giordano]

I must admit it does look good and OK Leica needs the money but it still perpetuates the idea that Leica is making fashion statements and not serious cameras.

 

If they'd really been serious about the M8 they'd have designed it with a PC socket and stronger baseplate attachments.

[delander †]

Do you think this is a sign that M8.2s are not actually selling that well.

 

If the S2 does not sell as hoped will there be safari versions of it?

 

Leica marketing is full of mixed messages. The M8 is a professional camera but also a fashion toy.

 

Jeff

[Guest stnami]

The M8 is a professional toy but also a fashion camera.

[marknorton]

Here's a shot I took yesterday morning with my M8.2 (non safari version) & Tri-Elmar @ 16mm, while on safari.

 

You're right, it is an elephant and you don't need the special Safari Mode I wrote about. Clearly you were paying attention the day they covered that in school.

[larry]

If this is true, we all benefit. It sounds like they know that if they build it, they will sell it. Easy money, why not? I won't buy it but their are a bunch of very rich CEO's out there who are getting retention pay in the millions right here at home from the government bailout. Those fat cats could easily buy it with their spare change.

 

Wilfredo, you're thinking along the same lines as I am. A "fallen CEO" version of the M8 could be a big seller. It could be given to disgraced and fired executives as part of their golden parachute package. (Gold plate the camera and replace the red dot with a parachute logo.) Mindless, excessive luxury should never go out of style.

 

Larry

[Tranber]

The Leica corp. are much more clever than us .... They know their clientele , they know they can produce anything of which ever quality and sell it, just read all the apologists here, the M8 is not at all a high quality camera, but followers will defend up unto the point of loosing their left testicle, and perhaps even after that ... going on to the right one ...

 

Leica has a select group of people whom will buy anything with a red, black, safari colored or pink dot on it, as long as it has a slight resemblance to Leica/exclusive.

 

Any photographer in his/her right mind would spend the money on a totally different, and better configuration, but for most Leica users this is not important, Leica means "money" ... "position" ... social standing etc.

 

Just answer me on the fact that people actually spend 60% more on a titanium colored D-lux4 being the same camera they can get for well, obviously cheaper in a Panasonic version, same specs, same camera...

 

Clever marketeers these Leica blokes ... and as long they have their short-sighted followers they will get along fine

 

You know photography is all about results ... and despite all the arguments posted here the results of a leica M8 are not better than cheaper alternatives, yes it is a range finder, but if one is in there for the result, the M8 is a bad choice for the investment required ....

 

But to be honest ... it's a sexy little camera!

 

At the end, the most important is not the camera, or the lens, or the snobisme, or people with or without money, or what else, BUT the pictures you take, AND you can show.

[Guest Luis D]

That's pretty funny.

 

It is, to say the least, not my favorite direction for Leica to take. Maybe this stuff makes them money but it sure doesn't help professional or serious amateur photographers. The best I can hope is that at least some of the money earned from these special edition cameras gets put into R&D.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

 

Yes I agree. However it is question whether this designer edition tactic is not contraproductive in the longrun. It was appeared that Dr. Kaufmann was decided to take Leica away from this image of silly collector items and rededicate to appearing a serious challenger in the industry. Who will buy the S2 is not a market to feel confidence from seeing Leica wear again its old shoes.

[Guest Bernd Banken]

Dealers shelfs and the Solms assembling lines are blocked by black and chrome bodies. So as in the past with the M6 their escape is to offer some funny stuff....

This is a side movement and not penetrating the market, sorry.

 

Bernd

[delander †]

Does it help to move the chrome and black bodies from the dealers' shelves?

 

Jeff

[SJP]

Does it help to move the chrome and black bodies from the dealers' shelves?

Yes - in the long run as the pile up of regular versions dissapears over time. The limited runs of special editions have a larger probability to be snapped up immediately by the collectors. There are people that buy Leica stuff as a sort of stamp collection (apparently). So a limited edition M8 is an offer you can't refuse.

 

The pile up disappears and the M8 production capacity can keep ticking over. Makes perfect business sense.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[delander †]

Sorry dont see the relationship between the standard M8s and the special ones if they a bought by different sets of people. The collectors may well snap up the specials but how does that shift the standard product? I can see that it keeps the dealers going when sales of the standard M8s are slack.

 

Jeff