Canon Powershot 2s

Interview: Leica at PPE 2011

We started by asking the group what kind of feedback M9 and M9-P gave Leica owners. According to von Oeynhausen, in general, the comments is that the M9 is exactly what they expected - really appreciate that the M9 is a "real" Leica M ". He continued: "people like the full-frame sensor because it's like real 35mm photography - there really are not many requests for additional functionality. Furthermore, as conventional cameras in the series of old M, Erhardt insists "the shutter lag on the M9 is extremely short.

We asked the group what they thought of the current energy in, and growing popularity of the mirrorless interchangeable lens camera market.

Erhardt explained 'when it comes to interchangeable lens mirrorless cameras we have the M system. The M system is perfect'. 'Leica has been making mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras since the 1920s' Stailey pointed out - 'it's our history, it's our heritage'.  

Erhardt went on: 'Leica has always been at the forefront of putting big sensors into small cameras. We were one of the first manufacturers to put an APS-C format sensor into a compact camera (the Leica X1 , introduced in 2009), and to this day we still have trouble catching up on demand.' 

Von Oeynhausen went on - 'we see a lot of young customers, infected by the Leica virus and their dream is to own an M9 but they're price-conscious so the X1 is a great opportunity to get into Leica. It's like a small Leica M'.

Speaking of young customers, we pushed Erhardt on how Leica was planning on growing its user-base in such a tough financial climate, and he pointed to the ready availability of M8 and M8.2s on the second-hand market - 'we had a very successful run with the M9, and as a consequence a lot of users put their M8s and M8.2s up for sale, and they retail for about $2800 used, which is allowing a lot of people, including students, to enter the M system'.

More news on the Verizon iPad 2 recall (Apple giving $50 credits ...

We’ve been getting a steady stream of news since we broke the Verizon iPad 2 recall news late last night.  We initially postulated that the recall may have been due to FedEx glitches or issues with engraving since most of the people in the discussions had both of those in common.  However, we’re now hearing that Apple Store employees are also being told to scan iPad 2s and if they are a certain serial number allotment, to send them back to Apple.

Verizon iPad 2s aren\’t being sent back due to engraving. If someone activates a cellular connection on the device, then wants to view or edit account information, they can’t. They receive a message that it is activated, and that\’s it. I saw someone open at least 6 looking for one that didn\’t do it. It\’s device specific, not software.

I bought an iPad2 on Wednesday (6/8) from the Apple Store in Louisville, KY.  It is a 16GB black Verizon 3G edition.  Have been using it for past couple days on wi-fi and went to activate the 3G service on it today.  Had trouble doing it on the iPad, so I called Verizon for assistance.  They told me that there is a batch of iPad2’s with duplicate MEID’s (which I believe are hardcoded into the device) out there and apparently I have one of them.  Only way to fix is to bring my iPad2 back to the store for exchange to new iPad.  I’m betting that is why people’s iPads are getting flagged for return before they even hit their doorstep.  If you get more info on this, would love to hear back from you – wondering if other people are getting told the same thing I was.  Thanks!

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