Hi,
Having sold Leica for several years prior to retiring, I must admit this is nothing new. They do quite well with the "mechanical" cameras, but just have not quite come up to speed with electronics. This goes back to the original
R3/R4's and M6's where the first batches were utter disasters. With the R3/R4's they finally had to get Minolta to actually manufacture the entire camera (not just the frame, as they claimed). The meters in the first M6's were all DOA and had to be returned.I still do have an M3 which is still going on fine, and have owned nearly every model of either the M or R series up to including the R6.2/R7 and M6 72. I still do wear the Leica belt buckle I received for sales, ever hoping that some day they finally will get their act together.

It occurs to me that Forum readers might not have noticed the problems we refer to. Interestingly enough, Pop Photo's website has one of the more thorough and critical commentaries:
http://www.popphoto.com/popularphotographyfeatures/3403/marooned-leica-l...

DP Review also has a short blurb on this. I personaly think that Leica will eventually end up as part of Panasonic, which is a shame.

Dave,

Why should it be a shame? Leica as a company has been on the edge of viability for a very long time, and as the post that started this indicates has not served its customer very well recently. Part of that may be due to both under-capitalization and low sales volume obviously influenced by very high prices. Moving into the digital world of photography fully with the support of a large technology company might make it possible to be effective in providing good digital performance as well as preserve the Leica qualities that have kept it going this long. I think that would be a better scenario than what Rollei has been reduced to by a series of poorly managed and under-funded efforts for too many years handed off from one party to another.

With Leica, Panasonic and Olympus already collaborating (and even with a joint Four Thirds web page that I note in one of my Olympus postings) there does appear more hope of competitive products than any of them going their own way. So it would seem.

Thanks David,
I am just feeling sentimental about this. Per my first post, trying to explain this to long time Leica customers was very painful over 20 years ago,as it must be to present Leica dealers and their sales personnel. Many of the loyal Leica customers may have put down some major $ as deposits in order to be "The First in The Block" to get the newest goodie. Then, the hassle of getting warranty repairs for an item that L is not sure how to fix properly.(I would just add that the company I sold for didn't require any deposit, but some customers would insist on paying the full purchasr price --- just to insure they would get what ever it was).

I do agree that it will take a company with deep pockets like Panasonic to save the Leica Logo. Perhaps it's all for the better.

A close analogy is the British car industry. It's easy to be sentimental - and I do; one of my best friends as a kid had a Cooper S (plus two Minis for spare parts!). Heck, my wife totalled three Minis as a kid and walked away (another story). Of course all the surviving brands of any consequence are now owned by non-British companies and making much more reliable products. Even with Leica I feel a bit sentimental but it's because of the great photographers who used (and use) their cameras. Personally the only one I ever owned was a IIIg which I detested. (Loved my Nikon S3, admittedly a later design.)

Hi,
We are getting off the subject, but I was a Parts Manager for a BMC dealer when I got out of the Army in the '50's.
I could tell you tales that would fill an entire message board on the lack of quality control of the post war British car industry.(some funny and some very sad--especially for the owners)

We used to joke that a Jag owner needed to have three--one to drive--one in the shop for lack of parts--and one for backup.
P.S. Don't you wish you still had the S3?

With apologies for using a link to Pop Photo's site, here's the latest on Leica's fixes. A better managed company would have done this right away.
http://www.popphoto.com/photonews/3446/leica-m8-fixed-for-free.html

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