The between the lines on the R line isn't encouraging.
http://www.bjp-online.com/public/showPage.html?page=725281
http://www.bjp-online.com/public/showPage.html?page=725281
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DougQuoting Stefan Daniel in the above-referenced interview:
"... for the moment and for the forseeable future there are no plans to discontinue the R system."
When the DMR was announced more than a year ahead of its release there were numerous very vocal self-proclaimed experts who predicted that because it's sensor is rated at only 10 MP that its image quality would be visibly poorer than the Canon flagship when it became available. OTOH Leica at the DMR's announcement claimed that the DMR's image quality would be the one to beat.
Dr. Kaufmann has stated that the R10 is under development, that its sensor may be full-frame or larger, strongly hinted that it will have AF capability, and that it will not be merely a Canikon clone with a red dot. September is 6 months away, and Leica's recent R predictions have been more accurate than the outside experts' predictions.
Thanks Woody!Doug
I just received this month's LFI and read your article thoroughly. Nice interview and well deserved praise for the Birdman of Sacramento.
Woody
The most vehement critics of the Leica R camera system are ..strangely..Leica M users. i think the company's focus on this crowd of 3 lens (f16 and be there snapshot guys) - is a strategic negative
Let's keep it real. A 22 meg MF digital camera is not 30K. It's not even 20K. And the CCD sensors are already oversized for larger photosites. It's the 22 meg and 30 meg MF cameras that are already bridging the gap to the 39 meg and Multi-Shot MF digital cameras.My own thoughts, based on nothing other than snippets of things I have heard and my own intuition, leads me to believe that there will be a new digital SLR from Leica. It will not necessarily R mount, but it will allow the full use of existing R lenses if by an adapter. Like Doug, it seems to me like it will be aimed at differentiating itself from Canon and Nikon and offering a more realistically priced alternative to medium format digital SLR's. Slightly larger than 35mm full frame, with AF lenses and an integrated body. It builds on their strength of having better lens design and execution than Canon and Nikon, and diminishes their comparative technological weakness. Leica is probably not going to be able to compete with Canon or Nikon for AF speed, custom functions, high iso noise, frame rate and so on, but if you stick a 22mp oversized sensor, 16bit output, minimal AA filter, and pair it with R lenses, Canon and Nikon will not be able to compete on image quality. Keep the price of the body under 10k (preferably under 8K, in my dreams under 5K), and you will have something that bridges the gap between medium format digital and 35mm DSLR. I think you would find a lot of pros questioning whether 30K for digital medium format is really worth it when there is a Leica at 22mp with a larger than full frame sensor at a 1/3rd of the cost.
Rob - i never thought of that angle before - you are right a lot of Leica M users ARE Nikon fans. Irresprctive though - dont you think it is starnge that an M user will criticise the saem company who makes an sLR? really weird ...as if oh yeah my m lenses are great but thsoe R lenses Suck..LOLPeter:
I have noticed over the years that a good amount of the M users came from Nikon and still keep their Nikon SLRs. I remember in the 1970's Nikon was advertised as the best SLR in the world. Every photo magazine had a big advertisemnt on the back cover with a fully loaded F2AS and talked about it being the best and the professional choice. The people with the Nikon that wanted better figured Leica was the only better camera and went to the M and some to the R, but lesser to the R after the advent of AF from about the F4 on.
When the F5 and the R8 came out about the same time the critics from the Nikon camp became even more vocal. Both cameras cost about the same, but the Nikon came with state of the art AF (until canon 1V came out) and 7fps motor.
Robert
Same for me. I was thinking of it yesterday and either the are ready to do something stupid or once again, they have a serious communication issue.but I have to say that I got NO COMFORT from recent Kaufmann statements NONE NADA NONE - he was very silly to be so ambiguous about teh R line.