If Leica goes under... There's a precedent already

[gerald1]

Leica has ignored one of the tenets of modern marketing - planned obsolescence, and is paying the price.

 

When film is discontinued, I'll still have my M7 to fondle and practise my rangefinder skills.

 

Gerald

[fotografz]

Have to take small issue with the Contax statements above.

 

Kyocera is a mega company that dabbled in cameras. No profit ? by-by Contax. They cared

so little for communicating, marketing and their loyal customers, that the brand became a

step-child long ago.

 

As to quality of the Zeiss SLR lenses being so, so. I wonder why there is such a stampede

by Canon owners to get the Contax WAs like the 21/2.8? Could it be that it absolutely

murders everything in the Canon line up? I recently bench tested a Contax N 17-35/2.8

against the Canon 16-35/2.8L and even a blind man could see the Contax beat the Canon

in every measure ... edge sharpness, color, lack of distortion.

[ben z]

"William Hoffman Photo.net Patron, mar 06, 2005; 11:40 p.m.

Oh, come on, Ben! You worried plenty about your dusty MP eypiece and the whole world knows it! Best regards, Billy"

 

Well, actually it was Roger Michel who brought the issue to light, and it seems he got you worried about it:

 

"William Hoffman Photo.net Patron, aug 28, 2004; 10:21 p.m.

I just discovered the gap under the rubber ring on my MPs' eyepiece. There is considerable space at the 9 o'clock position due to the radius of the top cap breaking the flat surface where the eyepiece is mounted. So far my eyepiece is clean since I've never exposed the camera to a sandy or dusty environment. It appears that the gap on my MP could admit small insects to enter the top cap! I will seal it soon, before my MP begins filling up with grit as Rogers' did! Best wishes, Bill"

 

OTOH, I clearly stated I was not worried about it:

 

"Ben Z Photo.net Patron, aug 30, 2004; 04:20 p.m.

Seb, as I said in the other thread, I'm fairly confident that the average kind of dust we encounter in normal shooting isn't as fine as talc, so it should take some time before enough little particles get inside to be bothersome, and if and when the time comes I'll just remove/clean/re-seal, which is easy with silicone. Of the things in life for me to stress out over, this one doesn't even register on the scale."

 

And this thread has to do with Leica going out of business, not a specific problem interfering with me using my own Leica for picture making. I am _so_ not going to worry about Leica's potential demise, though I'll be sorry to see them go, they've been able to rest on their laurels for a lot longer than most could of.

[SolaresLarrave]

The problem I see is that if Leica really wanted to make money, they'd have to abandon a number of standards very dear (yet, not absolutely necessary) to them, and mass-market their cameras in a better fashion. For some reason, they've always managed to stay on top by pushing their product as the best thing there is (look at the Leica ads and you'll see). How about changing the scheme and running ads with the agency that made the VW Bug so popular in the US?

 

There's still the problem of affordability... And how do you beat the digital foe? At a given moment, I don't see the parents of a lovely toddler rushing to get a 35/2 'cron. They want a digital camera so they can e-mail cute photos to grandma.

 

Oh, well... I'm repeating all that's been said before. In any case, my point was that even if Leica bellies up, there's still plenty of their stuff out there. And even if DAG or Sherry close shop, there are some competent repair people around.

 

As for me... it's time to dust off my C220. You guys have fun!

[rw]

I doubt that Leica will go under, but even if they will, there should not be any worry about getting spare parts for a long, long time....

 

I bet some entrepeneur will come along to buy all the tools & equipment at the auction and set up a small backyard company to produce parts for the spare market. or even take over the company, down size and re-structure it to target a niches in the market only.

 

The vultures are circling, I would if I have millions and live in Germany, there is still a lot of goodwill and values in the Leica name.

 

So stop worrying.....

 

Robert :)

[dan flanders]

HEY, AL! . . .I don't know Schmidtheiny's nationality but have assumed it was Swiss, and at one time his company did buy out Leitz and consolidated them with Wild and other Swiss companies. For some time the parent company was known as Wild-Leitz. Apparently when the camera business didn't produce the expected profit margin I believe they were spun off via a management buy-out. I don't recall the details, but it is well documented in Dennis Laney's Leica Collectors Guide

[billsr]

Touche', Ben Z! BTW, folks, the old girl isn't dead yet. I received a postcard yesterday announcing the opening of a new Leica dealership in Webster, New York. I believe that is somewhere near Rochester. The name is Rowe Photo, Video and Audio. There will be a Grand Opening on March 19 with lots of Leica Demo equipment to play with. I'm just passing along the info, as I have no stake in the business and don't even live in the area. Best regards, Bill