SLR Magic DISCONTINUES 50/0.95 and all RF lenses

[FrozenInTime]

SLR magic have decided the Leica RF market is too tough a nut to crack and have cancelled all RF coupled lens projects.
See the press release over on GetDPI http://forum.getdpi.com/forum/leica-...s-release.html

Seems like a vindication of Leica's $10K Noctilux price tag.

[bugmenot]

Not sure what happened there.

Leica fans don't attack other brands that make Leica M glass, say Zeiss or Voigtlander. Leica fanatics ... maybe.

On another hand, SLRMagic's fault is probably due to announcing the lens nearly a year before it was shipped. They had some high profile photographers (read: famous, not necessarily great) endorse the SLRMagic brand and especially the 50/0.95 lens early on, but then they just dropped from the radar. Also, their site was (and perhaps still is) very disorganized and lacked vital information. Reaching out to photographers and enthusiasts through forums, social media and blogs is fine, but you need to have some real, factual information on an official-looking site of some form.

It also didn't help them that they were making a very sudden change in brand strategy. Going from CCTV and Toy lenses to a $4000 lens. I can't blame people for not buying their lens, but mindlessly attacking them just because they aren't Leica seems quite immature and unnecessary.

Of course, the fact that there was inconsistency in the design, branding, and especially the quality and manufacturing was not a big aid to their reputation ... at all.

[jarski]

cant say am sorry, after reading all the bad experiences others have had with the lens and the company. IMO it was too ambitious project for a small company. they could not maintain consistency with the product, and lacked responding customer communication. getting Steve Huff raving the lens on his site was their only success with this Noktor.

[kdemas]

No big loss. From what I understand there were numerous serious quality issues, issues that shouldn't crop up on a lens at that price.

[MikeL]

What kind of company would generalize and blame a 'Leica community' for cancelling a product? Are you kidding?

Make a good product and everything will take care of itself. But if the person running the company is going to make such a sad excuse, I'll steer clear of whatever they are trying to sell.

[ray*j*gun]

Laughable situation.

[boomguy57]

So, they cancelled their line of lenses because their feelings got hurt on the Internet?

[tunalegs]

The "made in china" stigma I guess was too much for them.

Now if they could get some "made in Japan" stickers and acquire a German brand name...

[sevo]

Originally Posted by boomguy57

So, they cancelled their line of lenses because their feelings got hurt on the Internet?

Well, "not losing face" can cause the communication from smaller Asian companies to take very odd turns.

[kdemas]

Originally Posted by MikeL

What kind of company would generalize and blame a 'Leica community' for cancelling a product? Are you kidding?

Make a good product and everything will take care of itself. But if the person running the company is going to make such a sad excuse, I'll steer clear of whatever they are trying to sell.

I hadn't read the statement from Mr. Chan until just now, exceptionally lame.

[Tom A]

I think it is a pity that they could not continue. The more alternatives we have for lenses, the better it is. However, I do suspect that they tried to hard to make a unique lens. The inconsistency in quality and the rather substantial price would be a deterrent - but kudos to them for their attempt.
Making lenses is not that easy - and making 'cutting edge" lenses is even more difficult - and you need the expertise in optics, physics and mechanical engineering to survive. You also have to have a lens/optic that can hold its own against the Noctilux 50f0.5 and the Nokton 50f1.1.

[Benjamin Marks]

Does anyone here have any sense of what the alleged vitriol was? it is hard for me to imagine a community of photographers spurning a good product. In fact, my sense is the opposite; that there is a hunger for quality alternatives. Mr. Kobayashi (Cosina) has certainly carved himself a niche on this value/performance axis. Any reports from the world?

Ben

[Edit to correct for Mr. Kobayashi's name -- Thanks Tom]

[ottluuk]

"SLR Magic" - could anyone think of a more unfortunate brand name for offering Leica-mount lenses? Too bad about the outcome, though.

[Gabriel M.A.]

"The Leica community"?

I didn't know I was bashing that lens. All generalizations are bad™

Wish I knew what this was all about, to at least know exactly what I'm guilty of.

[Gabriel M.A.]

Originally Posted by boomguy57

So, they cancelled their line of lenses because their feelings got hurt on the Internet?

That's how I read it, too. Apparently that forum is the Ultimate Word on what the rest of us feel like, too. Perhaps they should have expanded their horizons and get feedback from one of the other forums on the Internet. It's not like the Internet is a little town, population 523

[hteasley]

I would guess that preorders just didn't amount to as much as they were wanting. If they came out at a price more equivalent to the Nokton, they would probably have seen a great deal more enthusiasm. As it is, an unproven brand with an unproven lens coming out at a new Summilux price... that's a hard position to be in without some reputation to fall back on.

[richardhkirkando]

Originally Posted by tunalegs

The "made in china" stigma I guess was too much for them.

Now if they could get some "made in Japan" stickers and acquire a German brand name...

I think any company new to the business is going to be met with skepticism. Cosina's marketing did a much better job of fighting that off than the company that decided to call its high-end rangefinder lens business "SLR Magic" after having only made cheap CCTV lenses.

Would you buy a new car from a company called "Bicycle Magic" that has only ever built wheelchairs?

[Roger Hicks]

Originally Posted by richardhkirkando

I think any company new to the business is going to be met with skepticism. Cosina's marketing did a much better job of fighting that off than the company that decided to call its high-end rangefinder lens business "SLR Magic" after having only made cheap CCTV lenses.

Would you buy a new car from a company called "Bicycle Magic" that has only ever built wheelchairs?

Nicely phrased!

Still more if they haven't even built world-class wheelchairs...

Cheers,

R.

[Tom A]

Originally Posted by Benjamin Marks

Does anyone here have any sense of what the alleged vitriol was? it is hard for me to imagine a community of photographers spurning a good product. In fact, my sense is the opposite; that there is a hunger for quality alternatives. Mr. Miyazaki (Cosina) has certainly carved himself a niche on this value/performance axis. Any reports from the world?

Ben

Ben, just a correction. Miyazaki san operates MS Optics - another highly specialized , small run producer of optics. Cosina is run by Kobayashi san.

[jarski]

Originally Posted by Benjamin Marks

Does anyone here have any sense of what the alleged vitriol was?

if you are curious, this long and now closed thread on LUF can be one of such examples. havent followed discussion on getDPI or elsewhere.

[Rangefinderfreak]

I think it was a clash of cultures. Mr miyazaki was a man that took big pride on what he was doing, in a very small product scale. We all know the difficulties in matching M bodies to wide aperture lenses. maybe some of the customers recieved examples that were in their mind not calibrated right. The reason might as well been that the bodies were the reason, but the blame was put on the lens. This is not well acepted by a retired japanese gentleman who does these lenses more as a hobby.

[digitalintrigue]

"Hopefully when the HyperPrime LM 50mm T0.95 get acceptance as a new third party lens we will consider to continue future RangeFinder coupled lens projects again."

Good luck with that...

Excellent example of how not to write a press release.

[jaapv]

There were problems with calibration and doubts about the mechanical stability (use of locktite). The resulting internet kafuffle was not pretty from both sides. I think this is the only forum left that does not close SLR Magic threads as a matter of routine...
In use I found the lens too heavy (1 kg approx.) and large and it needed to be supported with the left hand to avoid it leaning in the bayonet, which affected focussing accuracy.
I did not test it extensively, but the optical quality appeared to be quite good. As it should be @ 5000$.

[AusDLK]

Originally Posted by jarski

getting Steve Huff raving the lens on his site was their only success with this Noktor.

After having a critical comment about his Monchrom part 3 deleted, I have decided that Huff is all smoke and no mirrors.

[peterm1]

To bring a product like this to market requires plenty deep pockets. Apart from R and D to develop the lens there is the need to set up production facilities, engage suppliers, establish QA operations, and train staff. Then there is marketing and advertising to think about plus logistics infrastructure. The list goes on. Whenever there was criticism of the lens consistency / quality on the internet the firm did seem to respond pretty, well shall we say, "robustly". I imagine they knew how fine the line was between success and failure and this accounted for their sensitivity. Shame but if you are selling a product worth several grand into a market where quality is all - you better deliver quality. I would rate this firms main competitor as the Voigtlander 50mm f1.1 perhaps rather than the Leica original and this new lens was several times the asking price of the Cosina offering. In those circumstances its a big gamble and success needs every ball to line up. It looks as if it was just too big an ask for a small company. Its a bit rich in the circumstances for the company to blame the public - the customer is always right after all!