Steven Lee fired

Very German - but you can't let the CEO give away trade secrets even at a trade fair. Leica have turned the corner and are pressed to get production up to meet demand. The last thing you want is a CEO winding up customers further.

<i>"Or Porsche taking control of the VW group? It may happen."</i><p>Porsche dont have the balance sheet to do anything like this..their investment in VW reaps them much more in terms of JV manufacturing than VW shareholders get..<p> Regarding Mr Lee, he flagged his exit a year ago, CEOs of small companies, without any skin on the table in terms of serious equity, come and go like flies in summer...big deal.<p> and much as I dislike criticizing Leica - I have to say that the upgrade policy announced recently was an incomprehensibly stupid idea on so many levels it defies rational discussion.<p> I look forward toe the full frame versions of the camera bodies that will take my R glass and the full frame version of the M in due course - that is the strategic roadmap for Leica - it was layed out before Mr Lee joined the company.

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/0326/breaking35.htm

 

Posted by Reuters today:

 

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/06/01/porsche-officially-files-for-takeover-bid-of-vw/

"the company seems to have done this without having any communications plan in place to explain what is going on..."

 

Yup. It's the quiet ones you have to watch out for every time.

"<i>Or Porsche taking control of the VW group? It may happen.</i>

<p>

Porsche dont have the balance sheet to do anything like this."

 

<p>

Well, news items such as

 

<p>

"A German statute known as the "Volkswagen Law" was struck down Tuesday by the European Court of Justice, opening the door for sports car maker Porsche to acquire the German automaker."

<p>

(from: http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9802483-7.html)

 

<p>

and

<p>

 

"A 47-year-old German law is the only roadblock that stands between Porsche and its long-sought goal of taking over Volkswagen. On Tuesday, the law is likely to be swept away." [it was.]

<p>

(from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/23/business/worldbusiness/23porsche.html)

<p>

tend to create a different impression.

"Usually it would be gross misconduct."

 

That was my first thought - caught with his fly down or somesuch.

More likely, he wanted to make Leica competitive.

 

Note German ongoing failure of German auto makers to be big players in the US (whupped by Hyundai, and the other usual suspects), and the failure of German banking outside Germany proper...because German banks are weird feudal/socialist entities. Leica's nuts to continue flogging M8, given immediately upcoming 24mp from Sony and $1000 14mp "rangefinder" from Sigma. Leica's target market isn't comprised of people who struggle to assemble $5K to get an M8, in order to use old lenses...Leica's target market is people who will buy M9, M10 etc as well as all the wonderful new lenses the company can dream up. A company like Leica, like Porsche, obviously wants rich customers, not retiree savings. IMO somebody will sell more M8b with 14mp @ $8000 than they have with M8 @ $5000.

...any camera company that suggests cutomers part with 800 GBP just for a slighty quiter camera and an LCD cover are plainly nuts...like the minority who might actually pay that for such a ludicrous 'upgrade'...

Hey, Steven, my Hexar AF is full frame, quieter than any Leica, and came with an LCD cover...$375/KEH.

Can't one just set the shutter speed to 1/4000 and not 1/8000 - do I the speeds right? - to get the same sound level?

Among the high end DSLR's I don't think Leica has come up with a strong enough selling point to beat the competition. Just what is it that makes a Leica the Rolls Royce of modern digital cameras?

Here is the deal: Run the company successfully, create profit for shareholders, and have a sensible marketing-product-development strategy and you get to keep your job. Err on any one of these and "hasta la vista baby."

Oh gosh darnit! I was soooo happy with the M8 I just bought refurbished for about a grand less... I hope Leica does last at least till my social security checks start coming in.

I cannot see Mr. Lee, as CEO of Leica Camera, knowingly making any false statement

concerning a full frame digital M series body. I speculate that it must be in the works,

and initially scheduled for a 2008 Photokina release. Why else would Leica offer a

program to update the APS-ish M8 sensor cameras but not to leave those owners in the

proverbial (silicon) dust when the full frame camera is announced. The big question IS can

the present M8 be upgraded to the full frame sensor, or will one have to purchase a new

(M8.2/M9) body? For what its worth, I've owned Leica M film (and Linhof and Nikon film +

digital), and will only buy a digital Leica M if and when the full frame sensor becomes

available. To me its all about maximizing the quality of the format. I think the f2.5

Summarit lenses were a mistake for the same reason. The difference in price is not a big

deal. Cost cutting does not deliver the quality that gets the performance. Mr. Lee

apparently stepped on toes (all mentioned in the above posts) that were more embedded

in the Leica establishment than his perceived value to the company. Thats too bad. As a

result of all this, everyone has big expectations of Leica Camera for Photokina 2008 (full

frame digital M, new and perhaps full frame digital R, etc.). Will they be able to live up to

those expectations and if they don't, are they themselves now identified as the cause of

any failing to do so?

"The big question IS can the present M8 be upgraded to the full frame sensor"

 

I would have thought it would be impossible to fit a ff sensor in an M-sized body.

I believe that it is the lens coverage which is at issue and not simply the physical size of the sensor. Erwin Puts has discussed this at length on his Leica Pages site. As I understand the problem, the lens mount on the Leica M body would need to be enlarged to take lenses (particularly the wide angles) with larger rear elements that could transmit light in a perpendicular manner over the entire sensor. The retrofocus wide angle lens designs for the Leica SLR R system might be better for that purpose. Will we see a full frame digital Leica M body modified to take existing R lenses? Or, will we see a new line of lenses for a new M mount based on the retrofocus wide angle R designs? Existing longer focus Leica M lenses could still be used with an adapter for the larger diameter mount. This would be a feasible and cost effective endeavor for a smaller company lacking deep pockets to develop an entirely new design. To survive, Leica has to offer something new. They cannot generate sales by merely upgrading already sold digital M bodies or by lowering their standard of quality.

This whole blog reminds me of why I dumped my Leica stuff ten years ago,soon after I ran a test of it against Nikon and Contax and found Leica be no better.