Jono
Sorry I don t understand your point of view ?
Just to go back a bit ….no one followed the logic of the Mono introduction . Lets look at some facts on that one as a reference . (1) sales of the M9P had dropped off the cliff …they were in stock everywhere and they were priced even higher than the M9 ……(2) the M240 and the new plant(s) were both behind schedule …….so what was Leica going to sell and keep the plant loaded .
The Mono could be made with many of the existing components and because of an expected surge in demand (maybe for short period of time ) would nicely load the existing production facilities .
It was IMHO a brilliant solution to a significant business problem and allowed time to transition to the M240 . It had absolutely nothing to do with the desire to produce a B&W solution . Sounds good and was packaged nicely by marketing .
Well Roger - I absolutely followed the logic of the MM - I was involved with discussions about it, and had a really early prototype to test - I always thought it would sell. . . . .
You should be careful making assumptions about sales of different cameras however - there is a lot of 'knowledge' about the net, but Leica don't publish these figures, so it's pretty much all hearsay.
I don t for a minute think Leica needs an ME (CCD) camera in the product line for any other reason but to continue their supply of sensors for maintenance and repair . The most straight forward approach would be to keep making the existing ME(CCD) in small batches a few times a year and do the same with the Mono. But they also have problems with several other component suppliers for the original digital M platform .
Actually, as far as I'm aware, the ME has been a real success, so the principle was obviously a good one .
But I don't think your logic stacks up here - if they have to redesign because of other supply issues, then it won't really solve the problem for older cameras . . . but will make a new potential problem for the newer cameras!
I would completely agree that its seems far fetched to believe that the classic digital M body (M8,M9,Mono) could be modified in a way to accept the M240 battery and a new LCD . If it could ..how could we justify the expense over such a low volume of product ?
It also seems a stretch to believe that Leica can justify moving the entire CCD platform to the M240 body . This would however have some long term benefits if possible .
I guess I agree …the whole proposition seems like a bridge too far . From a product/technology perspective appears unlikely . Yet…….
Well, Yet nothing - but it seems to me that we agree with each other entirely, except that you think they might do it and I'm pretty sure they won't (I certainly agree that some people would like it).
How big a problem do you think it will be when Leica can t supply CCD sensor replacements ?
Well, I hope that they're stockpiling enough whilst they're still available, but I don't think producing another camera which uses them really solves the problem, (at best) it just pushes it forwards a bit.
all the best