On a less technical note .....In 1978 I recognized Bill Pierce, photojournalist and columnist of "Nuts and Bolts" fame in the street in my hometown of Sydney,Australia.His M4 had been adapted by Wetzlar to incorporate an M3 style lens release guard.He swore by his 'Lux 50 over the 'Cron for black and whites.He told of a recent tragic event where a comrade photojournalist had been shot dead by a sniper and had willed each of his seven Leica M's to friends.Bill was one.

In contrast, an acquaintance of mine who works for Wild Leitz,told me a photojournalist friend of his was told for a recent overseas assignment he had to use a digital camera,not his trusty Leica. How can Leica promote and maintain the endearing attachment to this camera in this "modern world" besides say participation in rebate schemes?Granted times are a changing.Perhaps there there may be some budget restrictions however,the right promotion is an essential part of the product.

-- Sheridan Zantis (albada60@hotmail.com), January 06, 2002

Answers

Thanks for sharing the anecdote. Bill P. is a favourite of mine. It is easy to add a release guard to any M camera without one just get it done while you are having it CLAed.

-- John Collier (jbcollier@powersurfr.com), January 06, 2002.

Promoting the Leica appropriately is critical in this digital world. I work comfortably in both camps recognizing the superior ergonomic, mechanical/industrial design and lens quality and control that my Leica offers me. But few consumers wanting to do low-res or even relatively high-res holiday snaps are going to either care about or drop money into the kind of camera that Leica offers. Leica is not such a household name as Rolls Royce or other famous upper-end brands but most certainly deserves to be.

However, I think that the right kind of promotion to inform the buying public even if most won't purchase one is important. Cutting through the consumer-pro-sumer-SLR-auto-everything noise will be key for maintianing brand presence and an important niche.

I'm waiting for the time that Leica offers a retrofit 6 megapixel digital back-plate (battery where the film is loaded??). Just A pipe dream perhaps.....

phil

-- Phil Allsopp (pallsopp42@attbi.com), January 08, 2002.