View Full Version : BIG News for Europeans
I just got a call from my camera dealer: The first batch of M8's will be coming -barring unforseen sudden glitches- before the end of October. I know which shop is first on the list ;) :D. I am first on THEIR list! :) :)
zuikologist
10-10-2006, 04:46
:) :) :) :) :) :)
Why won't you say the names of the shop?
J. Borger
10-10-2006, 04:47
Congrats Jaap .......... will the first batch include silver ones?
Why won't you say the names of the shop?
Sorry, I didn't want to upset the site sponsors, but since you ask: www.kameraexpress.nl.
Han: I sincerely hope so, I want a silver one...
According to the US Leica product manager , rather than ship small batches as they are finished, Leica is assembling approximately 2000 M8s which will then be distributed. They are doing this, so they say, to avoid what appeared to dealers and customers in the past as unfair. So if they're on target with this, everyone who is at the top of their dealer's list should be getting a camera around the same time.
Andy Aitken
10-10-2006, 06:33
Good luck Jaap - I hope you can be the first to show us some real M8 pictures!
I wonder how many folks worldwide are onwaitinglists right now for an M8. Any speculation? I suspect if you're not on a waiting list now, you might as well wait.
That first shipmentis almost 10% of leica annual sales. Hope they are all sold!
Will US get M8 same time? (bad grammar! :) )
Dont forget to post the pics in the M8 gallery!!!!!!
J. Borger
10-10-2006, 07:30
That first shipmentis almost 10% of leica annual sales. Hope they are all sold!
Will US get M8 same time? (bad grammar! :) )
There were ca. 2000 pre-orders of an M8 BEFORE Photokina ... and that was more than Leica had expected.
So i guess not everybody on a waiting list will have his copy before the end of the year.
Jorge, are you going to allow the M8 pioneers a few .DNG uploads for the other forum members to play with? Or would that be too much bandwidth?
I will set up a way of uploading DNG files.
According to the US Leica product manager , rather than ship small batches as they are finished, Leica is assembling approximately 2000 M8s which will then be distributed. They are doing this, so they say, to avoid what appeared to dealers and customers in the past as unfair. So if they're on target with this, everyone who is at the top of their dealer's list should be getting a camera around the same time.
You gettin' one, Ben?
(Mine already on order.)
-g
I was just talking to one store here in the states who already hady 50 pre-orders for the M8. Apparently, the other digital products were selling really well too. I called to order a D-lux 3 for my mother, and was advised that he had sold so many of these, just nine the other day, that he had to order another batch from Leica. So I'm anticipating that Leica will show a profit this year.
I wonder what Leica's manufacturing capacity is for the M8. Any speculation?
I wouldn't be surprised if 5000 to 10000 of these cameras were already pre-ordered, worldwide.
Cool to see Kamera Express will stock the M8. They didn't stock the R-D1.
KE is a really good shop and close to my sister's house. Never dropped by KE, though. Must do so when the M8 arrives.
Jaap, maybe we can organise a Benelux RFF meeting to fondle your M8?!
J. Borger
10-11-2006, 00:39
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I wonder what Leica's manufacturing capacity is for the M8. Any speculation?
20.000 a year would stretch their capacity to the limits i was told.
Yes is is a small company!
Cool to see Kamera Express will stock the M8. They didn't stock the R-D1.
KE is a really good shop and close to my sister's house. Never dropped by KE, though. Must do so when the M8 arrives.
Jaap, maybe we can organise a Benelux RFF meeting to fondle your M8?!
They told me they were getting a "considerable number" anticipating (relatively) heavy demand. If somebody is not on a waiting list yet, worth a try....
rolleistef
10-11-2006, 01:55
after a difficult time, do you think leica could be saved by the M8? It's cheaper than quite a few professional DSLRs after all...
Or on the contrary, will leica be definitely sinking after that, as Citroên did after they launched the Traction Avant?
What was wrong with the DS-ID series???:confused:
20.000 a year would stretch their capacity to the limits i was told.
Yes is is a small company!
So there's a very real possibility that these things aren't not on store shelves until the latter part of 2007.
after a difficult time, do you think leica could be saved by the M8? It's cheaper than quite a few professional DSLRs after all...
Or on the contrary, will leica be definitely sinking after that, as Citroên did after they launched the Traction Avant?
For the short term, most definately. When you think about how big is the rangefinder pool and what percentage will find a reason to open up the bank accounts for this camera, the next couple of years look bright. And I don't believe the M8 will steal sales from film cameras, because I believe most of the buyers of this camera will either be folks who already have a stable of film rangefinders or maybe people who have already gone digital, but have used rangefinders in the past.
But I got the Leica World in the post yesterday and one item which is clear to me is that the M8 is just one peice of Leica's marketing strategy. Along with the DMR, it may represent the cornerstone for Leica, but there's their whole D line which is getting more extensive -- Digilux 3; V-Lux 1; D-Lux 3 and C-Lux 1. The V-Lux 1 particularly looks like something special, and as Leica cameras go, it's relatively affordable.
And remember what Leica film cameras have done in the last ten years? There was the M6 going to the M6 ttl and then the M7 and then the MP, not to mention all the special editions. I suspect the same is true for the M8. In two years or so we'll have the M8-2 with a little tweaking. And then in a couple more years we'll have an M9, ect. And there'e a segment of the Leica rangefinder crowd who need, or just want, the latest and the best.
And who knows, maybe Leica will come oout with some special edition M8s.
Mark Norton
10-11-2006, 03:52
Even 20000 is hugely ambitious. Work it out and that's one every 5 minutes. My guess is the final alignment and quality control takes at least an hour, so they will be doing that with 12 cameras in parallel.
You then wonder whether the suppliers can produce the required parts. How much of a challenge for Kodak is 80 sensors a day with the required yield? What about the supplies who mill the top cover out of solid brass? And so on.
20000 cameras at ex-factory would be €50-60m and together with continued success in sports optics, DMR, M+R lens drag-along, the digital compacts, plus of course my lens coding business (LOL) and Leica should be back onto the road of profitability.
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