Thread: Leica to sell Black and White sensor "M" camera? (rumor)

Good news because it means that someone is producing B&W sensors (other than medium format)! Now let's see it on the Ricoh GXR!

Wow ... Leica just left that crappy LCD screen in the new cam. The Oly E410's LCD is better than the one on my M9.

LEICA M MONOCHROM Video Review - YouTube!

Ta da: Leica Announces the X2 Compact and M-Monochrom Rangefinder

Oh dear - can Leica really be that naive that they think these two cameras and their respective pricing will appeal to the majority?

I suspect yet again, Leica is relying on their "Red Dot fanatics" and well healed wannabees to buy these cameras for the badge and latest offering rather than as a serious user tool.

I am sorry if this sounds like I am being vindictive, I have been an analogue M user for years but my switch to the Digital M was my mistake ( I had the M8.2), the camera was well built but flawed and with very poor IQ above 800 ISO - mine needed 2 new LCD,s within first 2 yrs of ownership from new and the need for IR filters was a pain even though I got 2 free with purchase - I have since got rid of my M8.2 and now have the X100 that leaves the M8.2 way behind in terms of IQ so I think Leica needs to look, listen and learn rather than take a fast becoming obsolete sensor and make it B&W on a vastly more expensive camera.

I do wonder if the Bean Counters at Leica are flexing their muscles and hoping to get more profit from sales, suspect all they are doing is slowly pricing themselves out of the general market!

hmm ... I'm not sure that Leica see themselves as in a "general market" - not that I have any particular knoweldge of Leica, but when I look at their pricing and advertising, it looks like they are occupying their niche and are happy with it. If they are selling as many bodies and lenses as they can make, and make the profits that the owner wants (it is still a privately owned company isn't it?) , they aren't likely to try and become a volume manufacturer.
why move into a hugely competitive and increasingly saturated market sector, when you own one all of your own with virtually none?

Leica used to compete in the general market, and that led them close to disappearing. It's only when they decided to become a niche that they got back to making profits. If they priced their gear at what it's really worth they would quickly lose their aura and die.

They are profitable now and they seem to know what sells. They have their own expectations and as long as they meet those then they're set. Let's also not forget that the fact that other cameras can use Leica lenses they sell more of those than just what M buyers will buy.

Rangefinders are inherently a niche product. No use in trying to make them more appealing and less expensive. And oddly enough increasing price can often increase demand, at least among a certain crowd.

And BTW apparently Germany's economy is doing very well (the best in the EU I believe) because they focus on precision manufacturing of high quality products. Sort of the antithesis of the China model.

My only disappointment is that the only (reasonable) B&W only camera is the M-Monochrom. Nice to at least have that option, but let's see more options! Sean Reid's review of it clearly demonstrates the benefits of the B&W only sensor.

Originally Posted by Armanius

Wow ... Leica just left that crappy LCD screen in the new cam. The Oly E410's LCD is better than the one on my M9.

Unfortunately, in that size, that's currently the best LCD available. Sad though it is.

Gordon

I get that a B&W specific sensor can have better resolution and better low light sensitivity than a color sensor, all other things being equal. And a couple/few years ago, when color sensors were limited in both resolution and high ISO, I might have found one compelling, shooting as much B&W as I do. But with good color sensors now available at anywhere from 16 to 32 megapixels and able to shoot pretty clean up into the ISO stratosphere at 3200 and now well above, I really fail to see the point. Particularly at Leica prices, but that's a separate discussion - I fail to see the point of ANYthing at Leica prices...

To me, the beauty of digital shooting is getting the image in the field and then having ALL options available to you in processing. With film, you decided on your "sensor" before you shot and aside from the limited amount of manipulation you could do in the darkroom, most of what that image would ever be was cooked into the emulsion at the point of exposure. With digital, I may still decide to produce most of my work in B&W, but the final decision doesn't have to be made until I see the file and begin to work with it. Some that I envisioned in B&W end up working better in color. And for those shots I do process for B&W, having the color channels available to manipulate after the fact is a godsend. Someone earlier suggested that filtration was better done optically than digitally - why? Whatever small difference in optical fidelity there might be seems insignificant to me compared to the flexibility you gain by having the color information available while processing. I guess I can see a little bit of purist appeal, but not for me. Digital photography pulled me back into photography in the first place because of the amazing things you could do with digital processing, with almost all decisions available to you at the processing stage and the flexibility and speed of digital processing. I spent a lot of time in a darkroom as a kid - lots of all-nighters. VERY happy to spend a few minutes on a shot in Silver Efex Pro today with the ability to fine tune (or grossly tune, for that matter) an image in ways I never could back then. I can't see a compelling reason for it in these days of high resolution color sensors that work well into the iso stratosphere, particularly if you're shooting with B&W in mind.

That said, for those of you who do, have fun with it!

-Ray