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New camera system from Leica ?

ashwinrao1

Active member
Could this really be true ?

Link => New camera system from Leica

source: leicarumors.com

:watch:
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!
 

Knorp

Well-known member
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 !

All the best.
 

Viramati

Member
Wouldn't surprise me if something appears along this line especially after being the thought that has gone into the Q. For me the problem though will probably be the cost of this new system and as much as i maybe really great and dare I say it innovative having just gone into semiretirement will probably be out of my price range.
 

peterb

Member
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 !
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.

I'm sure folks like Sean Reid and Jonathan Slack have been secretly putting this concept through its paces!

We'll find out in time...

(Until then we can sing, "See you...in Sep-tem-berrrrr"

:)
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
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
 

ashwinrao1

Active member
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
Might our friend Double Negative be correct? He posted a few months ago:

http://lavidaleica.com/content/future-leica-m-cometh
 

JorisV

New member
Please also take into account that announced this year does not necessarily mean that it also will be delivered this year...
 

bab

Active member
They regularly announce new cameras, but a new complete system would be a major. Kinda like golf there are lots of tournaments few majors, but the annoument of a new major is news. However it would only be news to me if its to quote Bill Gates don't show me something I've seen :banghead:, show me something I've never heard about! That's an announcement I would consider to be news.
 

Stuart Richardson

Active member
The R system never really left...it just mutated into the S system!

An interchangeable lens system based more on AF and modern technology makes sense to me...I think the M system is becoming increasingly untenable for Leica...as the resolution of the sensors grow, the ability to create a mechanical rangefinder and lens system with the necessary precision and focus accuracy is a daunting and expensive task...it is hard enough to peg maximum sharpness every time on the M9 (and I am pretty good at it!), but on a 36-50mp M body it would be quite a task...having live view can be helpful, but the RF will remain the main method of working, and few people's eyes are good enough to accurately focus the sharpest lenses wide open on very high MP bodies. Even with the S and a SLR viewfinder, I find that the AF system is more accurate than my (still fairly young) eyes. This is assuming perfect calibration of the rangefinder and perfect matching between the lens and body. Those tolerances are really tough to achieve, especially if you imagine a future M with the 50mm APO Summicron and a 35-50mp body.


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, even though they often don't work very well. I would not be surprised if they made a camera that would take a series of new AF lenses like the one in the Q, while also providing a good adaptability for M lenses. It would also have a sensor that used microlenses or some other technology to keep the performance of the M lenses up to native standard (M lenses work extremely well on the T for example...none of the edge issues they have on Alpha bodies). The M series will continue, but probably in the way that the film M's now work. They are still available, but not really being updated. I would not be too surprised if they announce another M after the current one, and then let that be the last one, at least with a fully mechanical rangefinder and MF lenses.

Anyway, I don't have any secret knowledge, but something like this happening seems like it is in the cards...if not now, then within a few years.
 

bensonga

Well-known member
When I saw the thread title, my first thought was: "YES!....they are releasing a digital R System with modern AF lenses....finally!! :)

The R system never really left...it just mutated into the S system!
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
 

Stuart Richardson

Active member
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
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.

As much as I love the M, I think it probably needs a similar treatment. I would love to see the traditional M mount continue in an MP style series, but I think Leica would do very well to take what they have learned in the S, T and Q systems and apply it to the M.

Vivek -- is that sarcasm because people have been adapting lenses for a long time, or sarcasm because they do not work well on the alpha series? I am not saying that Leica was not aware of it before, but it is reaching catastrophic levels these days...
 
V

Vivek

Guest
Stuart, it is sarcasm (not directed at you) and I agree that catastrophic level was breached a while back.

They lost Doug Herr. That ought to tell something.
 

Ken_R

New member
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.
 
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