Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/05/12
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]How long has Konica been making M cameras ? How long has Leica/Leitz been making M cameras ? thanks, Jim At 11:40 PM 5/12/01 +0800, apbbeijing wrote: >> No one is being disrespectful of Konica nor of their heritage: I am simply >> attempting to ensure that all of us understand the historical record, >> myself included! > >Marc, > >I appreciate the rigour of your historical inquiry. > >I am afraid that, though certainly interesting, it was not central to the >issue under discussion. I perceived rightly or wrongly that the heritage of >Konica had been belittled and was simply trying to bring a little >perspective to the case. Konica is IMHO and IME fully capable of producing a >very fine M compatible camera that is up to professional use in demanding >situations. That had been directly challenged in Jim Brick's original >statement about how any pro going out with a Hexar RF was on thin ice if he >thought it would work with M lenses. Well I and others do precisely that >without falling through ice and it is I contend not due to improbable good >luck or my own low standards that I am satisfied with it. > >The relative age of Leica and Konica was rather tangential to the whole >discussion: I brought up the lineage of Konica, which is by all accounts one >where photography has been a core business for much longer than chez Leitz, >to support my contention that they are not incompetent and inexperienced >camera makers as many might be led to believe by the rather offhand remarks >that prompted the whole exchange. > >The whole heritage thing seems a bit overstated to me: Leica does not yet >and has no publicly stated intention of producing a camera with the feature >set of the Hexar RF so if you want or need these features and they work, as >indeed they do, it seems specious to attack the company as lacking in >heritage and thus dismiss a fine product that does things the gnomes of >Solms and their disciples with all their love of history can only dream of. >It is a bit like saying that Toyota cars cannot work as well as Fords >because they don't have the heritage. > >It is not just one's understanding of history that is brought into question >by such statements. > > >Rs > >Adrian > > >-- >Adrian Bradshaw >Corporate and Editorial Photography >Beijing, China >tel/fax +86 10 6532 5112 >mobile +86 139 108 22292 >e-mail apbbeijing@yahoo.com >OR adrianpeterbradshaw@compuserve.com > >website: http://www.apbphoto.com > http://www.liaisonintl.com/bradshaw.htm > http://www.liaisonintl.com/bradshaw_e.htm > > > >_________________________________________________________ >Do You Yahoo!? >Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com >