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I believe this is going to happen. I made mention of this in my "Open Letter" thread from a couple of months back... The Q has been successful. The T system was not as successful, depite some really innovative design concepts. I think the new system makes perfect sense, but I am doubtful that it will be a RF system, but rather an alterative. Will they call it an M, though? Hmmm....Fingers crossed that it'll happen. My hope is that it takes M lenses with 6 bit coding to make everything play well; that it has a sensor similar to the Q's sensor. And if Leica's smart ,they start adding AF motors to their M lenses or optics, to keep the lenses compact and recoup all of the tech and R&D that's gone into manufacturing M lenses. I would not be surprised if M lenses of the future can be both RF coupled to a traditional RF and work on an AF mount...like I said, fingers crossed!
Maybe not a mechanical RF system per se (which I agree would be totally unnecessary) but perhaps a pop-up EVF (with Leica Q resolution) to provide live view and/or focus peaking and some form Electronic RF for manual focusing (should you need it) as Fuji has implemented bringing the best worlds of both (although focus peaking may be the new RF so even an electronic RF may not be necessary but who knows). Or, something the clever elves in Wetzlar have cooked up altogether with some help from Panasonic to implement it.Indeed, no RF system - that wouldn't make sense.
But a FFAFILC that takes both AF- and M-lenses ? Sounds like a dream made in heaven !
Might our friend Double Negative be correct? He posted a few months ago:It is what I've expected to come along. When has always been the question, to me anyway.
That said, I'm so delighted with the M-P, X, M4-2 ... and hopefully the MM246 soon ... I don't know that it will affect me much one way or the other for the next several years.
I enjoy new cameras and lenses a lot. I enjoy photography a lot more than that. :angel:
G
One other thought is that Leica will bring back the R system....but that'd be a stretch as well...Might our friend Double Negative be correct? He posted a few months ago:
http://lavidaleica.com/content/future-leica-m-cometh
If this is true and the camera is priced around the current Q (or better yet A7RII), I'll pre-order the damn thing.Might our friend Double Negative be correct? He posted a few months ago:
http://lavidaleica.com/content/future-leica-m-cometh
Yes, it would be.One other thought is that Leica will bring back the R system....but that'd be a stretch as well...
This seems quite easy. Just make a Leica Q with an M mount. Add AF lenses.
As one of the diehards who still has a nice collection of R series lenses and R cameras, I wish I could agree with you Stuart. I would love to own a Leica S and if R lenses could be used on a S body I might actually have saved my $$ to get one, but of course, that's not possible.The R system never really left...it just mutated into the S system!
Really? That is news!They are also probably noticing more and more of their customers are being attracted to using their lenses on cameras like the Sony A7 series, ...
Well, I think it is basically the same case as Canon abandoning FD completely when they went to EF. It was a painful transition for many and alienated a lot of customers, but ultimately it worked for the brand. I think Leica looked at the market and felt that making a premium SLR would work better for them if they if they could more easily differentiate themselves from Canon and Nikon. The Leica R system was a hard sell for many, particularly at the end...costing more and having lower resolution, smaller sensors than what Canon was doing at the time, and without AF to boot. The R lenses of course were spectacular, and the bodies much more enjoyable to use on film, but taking the system into the future required a fairly radical change. In making the S system, they did that. Building it from the ground up allowed them to make it much better than it would have been had it been based around the R mount, which was designed fifty years ago. Now the S system is facing a few problems that the R faced back in the day...(higher cost for lower resolution and lower technical specs than their Canon/Sony competitors), but hopefully they will sort it out quickly.When I saw the thread title, my first thought was: "YES!....they are releasing a digital R System with modern AF lenses....finally!!
As one of the diehards who still has a nice collection of R series lenses and R cameras, I wish I could agree with you Stuart. I would love to own a Leica S and if R lenses could be used on a S body I might actually have saved my $$ to get one, but of course, that's not possible.
No, I think that the Leica R system (a real 35mm R system) is dead and gone (but not forgotten).
Gary
R Lenses got a new life and appreciation thanks to the Sony A7R and now the A7RII.When I saw the thread title, my first thought was: "YES!....they are releasing a digital R System with modern AF lenses....finally!!
As one of the diehards who still has a nice collection of R series lenses and R cameras, I wish I could agree with you Stuart. I would love to own a Leica S and if R lenses could be used on a S body I might actually have saved my $$ to get one, but of course, that's not possible.
No, I think that the Leica R system (a real 35mm R system) is dead and gone (but not forgotten).
Gary