Leica Rumors this morning published a whole raft of images of the new Zenit-M camera and lens. There is also a new Zenit website where you can find out more details. When I tried it this morning, however, it was running very slow, perhaps caused by too much interest!
Incidentally, reader David A notes that the lens, if not the camera, is made in Russia and wonders how current trade sanctions might have a bearing on sales in Europe and the USA.
See the story on Leica Rumors here.
So, reading a few other links on Leica Rumours, it seems more likely that this is a limited edition, collectors item (500 units and possibly selling at over 5000 euro’s) than any sort of budget entry into Leica M.
Which makes far more sense given the price and quality constraints inevitably imposed on anything from the Wetzlar factories. Leica couldn’t afford to undercut their own signature camera.
I don’t think Leica would undermine the M10 but they can afford to undermine the M240 which is no longer in production. Apple does this all the time in order to produce cheaper phones for those who can’t or won’t pay £1,000 or $1,000 for the latest and greatest. Dr Kaufmann is an admirer of Apple and, I suspect, this is one of the reasons the company down the Leica M route with the M240 rather than M10 (as it should have been). Thank goodness they saw sense (just as Apple has done) and reverted to a numbering system that everyone can understand. You may ask, though, why Leica is associated with Hauwei instead of Apple. The answer, simply, is that Apple doesn’t need Leica and there were probably no deals to be done.
Apple essentially want to control their whole eco-system and Leica would want to be at least an equal partner, if not ‘primus inter pares’. Dr Kaufmann would realise that any deal with Apple would benefit Apple more than it would benefit Leica. I have both an iPhone 8 and a Huawei P20. The former is a slicker smartphone, whereas the latter has a much better camera with a lot of adjustment possible. Next week I will bring both phones along with the Leica M10 to Wetzlar, but the P20 will act as my ‘back up camera’ in place of the Lumix LX100 which I usually bring with me. I have a large degree of attachment to Leica with somewhat less interest in their current products than I have in their historical output. I don’t like Apple at all as a company or the way that it treats its customers, but I do find some of their products quite useful. It is that type of relationship. I feel that same way about Microsoft, Google, Adobe etc.
I am delighted to see the Zenit relationship with Leica coming to some fruition. I am sure that this is just a start. While ‘Leica copies’ from the FSU have a bad reputation with some Leica users, there were some fine cameras and lenses produced in the USSR. I am sure that, in time, the new relationship will produce some really interesting products.
William
I have a zenith 3m laying around somewhere in the loft is it the updated version of this new camera. It has a Leica s rew fitting!
The lens looks interesting. I hope Leica makes a 35mm Noctilux.
They are. It will be introduced soon, I believe from what I’ve read.