A couple of months ago I decided to get out of film and move completely to digital. I’ve run both systems in parallel for many years having been one of the first on my block to get a digital camera back in the mid-90’s – a Sony half-megapixel unit that recorded images on a 3.5 inch floppy (and a slew of others in between). Until recently I felt that digital technology simply wasn’t “there” yet vs. film and besides, my beloved Leica-M had no digital equivalent. Recent foibles by Leica with their new digital M-8 led me to sell all my Leica film equipment (at about what I had paid for it – one of the great historical attributes of owning a Leica-M is that you never lost money) and abandon the brand until they either go bankrupt or come to their senses with respect to pricing – the Germans appear to have adopted the “if you have to ask how much it costs you can’t afford it” segment of the population as their target market.
But like a heartbroken lover who has lost the love of his life, I’ve been wandering from one brief liaison to another; a series of point-and-shoots, then a Canon G-9 six months ago, a Canon G-10 ten days ago, and finally yesterday, the new Panasonic G1 pictured above. Its a really nice camera and I’m looking forward to getting out there again and rekindling the passion. I know that “its not the equipment, its the eye”, but most photographers will confess that the “right” camera, well-attuned to your ergonomics and way of working, is an important adjunct to the creative process. For me the Leica-M was “it” and I’ve been somewhat creatively discombobulated lately without it. Anyway, I’m pumped – at least for now – so let’s see what comes out of it.
Does the Lumix line have Leica optics?
Will be looking forward to finding out how it works for you.
No, for some unknown reason they have chosen not to work with Leica on this their flagship, state-of-the-art, new-age camera. That really worries me since they have been trying to leverage the Leica reputation in their joint-venture cameras for so long..does it mean that the Leica name carries no weight with the average consumer? Is Leica moving to end their association with the “great unwashed” Japanese camera makers and pursue its own elitist goals?
I was at a Leica Clinic on Saturday (Leica representatives come to chew the fat and to test your camera to see if it may need adjustment). Its like talking to a brick wall. They keep echoing their new owner’s sentiment that “we don’t want to play in the Japanese camera market”, i.e. they want to play somewhere else….but where is that “somewhere else”? It appears to be some uber-mensch (Superman) or “super-elite consumer” for whom money and reason are somehow disconnected. Maybe they are right. I hear that Vuiton, Prada, Rolex, etc. all seem to still be doing pretty well, so maybe there are tons of people with gobs of money and little interest in even a remote relationship with value. Who knows? Only time will tell.
There must be something in the German psychology that believes in paying attention to engineers, cost be damned. That was what nearly took Mercedes Benz under: the engineers could do anything they wanted, regardless of the impact on the sales price. They got away with it for quite a while.
I was a senior executive for two large German multinationals and am well attuned to the German business mind. It is very much still in the “if you build it they will come” mindset, heavily into denial (at least publicly – you never know when things aren’t going well until everything “suddenly” collapses), and rather contemptuous of customers who are generally perceived as ignorant and in need of “education” by an elite. Very much a feudal mentality that continues to this day. At least public companies like Mercedes have some accountability to shareholders, but companies like Leica, controlled by one or two major investors are able to keep going along for quite a long time….until the money runs out.
Some of the earlier Lumix’s did have Leica optics, right? Was considering getting one
due to that impression & due to price of Lumix being quite reasonable (as opposed to
actual Leica digitals).
LOL, when I was a young fellow, I was a real Teutonophile, but over the years that’s
been shrinking till about all I left is the irrasciable Wagner, Bruckner & a few others.
Keine products that I can think of….
Yes, the earlier Lumix’s had Leica optics (but made in Japan under Leica “supervision”, whatever that means). The POS models still do.