M9: Lemonade from the Lemon?

[craigrmurray]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

This might sound a bit naive, but follow me here.

 

Suppose that:

 

1. Leica left the M8 as it is, and tried to market it as a Black and White, low-light instrument. Gave it a firmware tweak to make navigating the ISO settings easier, perhaps even get rid of the WB options. You could always put the IR Cut filters on, if desired for certain color shots.

 

2. Introduced an M9 (or M8-2 or M8-P or Mk.2, whatever the hell ya wanna call it) that fixed the M8's current problems. Use the R9/DMR as the target for color files.

 

3. Offered current M8 owners the option of trading in their M8 for its successor, or a possible retrofit.

 

After all, the M2 co-existed with the M3 for years, as did the M4-2 and M4-P, the R6.2 and R8, M4 and MD, etc. Who says that one camera body has to do-it-all, anyway?

[marknorton]

I think we can all assume that the sensor solution Leica have developed is the current state of the art so that even if they de-contented the M8 as you describe, the M9 world of digital rangefinder Nirvana is some way away.

 

In the meantime, the de-contented M8 would sell in miniscule numbers, Leica would not recoup the already high development and tooling costs and would be forced out of business, to become nothing more than a brand with a glorious heritage.

[craigrmurray]

S'pose you're right, Mark. This whole thing is starting to remind me of New Coke twenty-some years ago.