Leica buys Sinar

[Plungefrog]

Too true. I have owned Normas before and I would buy another if I needed one; I am well aware that a new 'Norma' would not be a practical cost-effective proposition, but we can dream!

[just_another_actuary]

Good move for Leica. They're going to lose out on the mass market segment owing to new mirrorless cameras (which can use Leica lenses). People would think twice before spending $8000 on a Leica vs $1600 on the Sony a7 - which can also use Leica lenses, and arguably just as good as the Leica M.

Clearly, a move by Leica to milk the more inelastic segment of the photography market.

[Mark Sampson]

Hey, if it keeps Sinar alive I'm all for it. I love my Norma, even if I might occasionally prefer the F2 from my corporate days, and I used Leica M's for 30+ years, and I can't think of this as a bad thing.

[r.e.]

Good move for Leica. They're going to lose out on the mass market segment owing to new mirrorless cameras (which can use Leica lenses). People would think twice before spending $8000 on a Leica vs $1600 on the Sony a7 - which can also use Leica lenses, and arguably just as good as the Leica M.

Clearly, a move by Leica to milk the more inelastic segment of the photography market.

I've had a good look at these new cameras that take Leica lenses. The upshot is that I expect to receive an M 240 in the next couple of weeks. And it costs $7k, not 8. It will replace the camera that I use most often, a 1955 M3 double stroke.

And no, Dakotah, I'm not a dentist. I'm just a guy for whom the M9's maximum ISO wasn't enough and who has grown very tired of scanning.

And I'm very interested in exploring the 240's video capabilities. Here's an example:

[rthollenbeck]

I know there will always be a group of 1%ers who buy new photo equipment as long as its available. Given the huge surplus of Sinar and photo equipment in general I cant think of any real negative that could from this merger.

It really seems like pointing out the obvious to even say so.

[analoguey]

Hmm,
Are Leica doing so well in the MF world by the way? All said and done, others are leading them in the 35mm world by miles.
I dont know how Sinar are doing, but isnt both manufacturers claim to fame mostly from their film days and less from the digital era? :-/

[Armin Seeholzer]

Sinar is almost just a name now. I was about six month ago in Feuerthalen, where the company was in the past. No Sinar letters anymore, but there is a company which works for them. The soul of the company the Koch family is long gone and so also most of the Sinar employees!

They did not get the move, to digital smooth so the game is over in my opinion!

Cheers Armin

[r.e.]

I've had a good look at these new cameras that take Leica lenses. The upshot is that I expect to receive an M 240 in the next couple of weeks. And it costs $7k, not 8. It will replace the camera that I use most often, a 1955 M3 double stroke.

And no, Dakotah, I'm not a dentist. I'm just a guy for whom the M9's maximum ISO wasn't enough and who has grown very tired of scanning.

And I'm very interested in exploring the 240's video capabilities. Here's an example:

Just to expand briefly on this, which may be of benefit to people who are considering cameras that take Leica M-mount lenses...

Fuji, for example, has a list of Leica lenses that its new system will accept. Of the five Leica lenses that I own, all of them of current design, Fuji's system accepts two. And mounting the lenses requires an adaptor. And it's a fudge. And the Fuji is just not anywhere near as well built.

Meanwhile, Fuji's and Sony's own lenses are still coming on-stream and indications to date are that they aren't going to be cheap. And it isn't clear how long either system, if one buys into it, is going to last.

The conclusion that I came to is that if one already owns Leica lenses, the cost of an M 240 or used M9 probably makes more sense than buying one of these cameras, and I also concluded, for my purposes, that it makes more sense than moving to Canon or Nikon. For some people, selling their Leica gear and moving to Canon or Nikon (or indeed Fuji or Sony) may make sense.

Regarding suggestions that Leica's 35mm system, S2 medium format system and apparent intention to move into large format are the company's death throws, I think that Leica just might be in better financial shape, and might have deeper pockets, than these prognosticators suggest.

In fact, it looks to me like Leica intends to be a serious player in the future of digital large format.

[richardman]

Leica was more or less dying in the early 2000s. The M8 and then the M9 really changed their fortune. They make most of their money on their lens of course, and having digital bodies make them desirable and hip again.

Apparently they sell only 700-1000 film M7 and MP a year now, but that still makes them one of the biggest film camera makers, minus Lomo I suppose.

May be the Sinar is a sharing of the resource - in one factory, the small number of workers can rotate different cameras and lens, so it's not much investment from Leica's point of view.

[mihag]

OT a bit, but since we are talking sales figures, how well is Linhof theses days?