As soon as the Leica S2
appeared on the market in December of 2009, people began to question the wisdom
of entering a market where Leica had never been a competitor. Leica has always been known as a manufacturer
of 35mm cameras and digital versions of those cameras. They never entered the medium format market
until the appearance of the S2. This is
a market that for years was the domain of Hasselblad, Rollei and Mamiya. With the advent of digital photography this
market has changed some. Rollei unfortunately
disappeared, in spite of their awesome cameras.
But there are newcomers, mainly Phase One, and until the appearance of
the Leica S2, the professional medium format market was covered by Hasselblad,
Phase One and Mamiya. How is the Leica S
line doing in this market?
Forbes Magazine published an
interview in 2013 with Stephan Schulz, the Head of Professional Photo at Leica
Camera AG. He explained that Leica had a
long history with professional photographers, mainly photo journalists. But in the 21st century the market
changed. Photo journalists are no longer
as well paid as in previous generations.
Leica needed a product that could appeal to the kind of professional
photographers who are able to afford a professional camera. Today, these photographers
predominantly work in fashion and commercial photography. They need a different
type of camera than photojournalists who use the Leica M. Fashion and advertising photographers tend to
be committed medium-format users.
This is the market of Hasselblad,
Phase One and Mamiya. Leica realized
that in order to compete in this market, they had to come up with an
exceptional camera. According to Stephan
Schulz, Leica set out to develop a medium format camera that could not only
compete with them, but that would be ten years ahead of what they are able to
deliver.
Hasselblad
Phase One
Mamiya
Leica had the advantage that
their competitor systems originated from analog, and as a result, the digital
versions of their cameras had some natural limitations. Part of that is that their cameras are
relatively large. Instead Leica wanted
to offer the best of two worlds: the size and operation of a 35mm camera with
the image quality of medium format.
That of course brings up the
fact that the Leica S system has a smaller sensor than their medium format
competitors. Leica addressed that issue
by designing the Leica S line of lenses such that they would compensate for
that. The Leica S-System clearly
outperforms the 40 megapixel Hasselblad model, and the 50 megapixel Hasselblad
model is more expensive and doesn’t perform any better.
While all of that is rather
impressive, the question is, how Leica fares on this market, is the Leica S
finding enough acceptance to be a viable competitor? There are no industry-wide figures, but the
core medium format market is roughly 6000 units per year, worldwide, for all
brands. Leica is not yet the market leader, Phase One currently has 40-45%
market share, but Leica has already a 25% share only 5 years after
introduction.
Leica has historically
succeeded not by copying a market but by reinventing it. They did it in 1953
with the M, and they are doing it now with the S-System.
Leica S System
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Good summary, but where is the new S (007)? It was said to be launched Q2 2015, which ends June, the month we are in...
ReplyDeleteI have no information on that. But until the end of June there is enough time left for it to appear.
DeleteWhat calendar are you using? According to mine there are almost 5 weeks left in Q2.
DeletePhil Melia wrote elsewhere: Interesting article, as a commercial industrial photographer I've been using medium format digital for approximately thirteen years (Contax 645 with Leaf digital backs). The analysis of the market in terms of competitors systems originating from analogue design is spot on. I tried an S2 approximately three years ago, I loved the camera but wasn't convinced about the sensor, I much prefer CMOS sensors for my type of work. I think they have a great product in the new S cameras but they only seem to have done half the job. In my opinion they haven't even scratched the surface in promotion and advertising, especially if you look at the marketing profile of Hasselblad in this market. They really need to improve awareness and marketing of the system in order for it to grow and survive. Great product from my perspective.
ReplyDeleteExcellent insight. I agree that Leica could do a lot better as far as advertising the S line of cameras go.
DeleteYou neglect to mention Pentax, which also is competing at a much lower price point than Phase, Hasselblad, etc.
ReplyDeleteOne reason I did so is because I was unable to find any information about the market share of Pentax. If you have any information about that, I will gladly add this to the article.
DeleteI wondered how you got the numbers you cited; Leica, for instance, does not publish numbers, as far as I know. Strange not to even mention Pentax, given the price point compared to Leica, as opposed to Phase and Hasselblad. Plus, they've received a lot of press for the quality of their recent MF offerings.
DeleteI got the information from an article that specifically dealt with medium format digital cameras. I don't recall at the moment where I did find it. You have to forgive me for not mentioning Pentax, but considering that it is only a minor player in this field, and considering that this is a Leica specific blog, I am sure you will understand that Pentax as a whole is not too high on the list of priorities of my readers.
DeleteI found a similar quote in this Schultz interview with Forbes…..http://www.forbes.com/sites/marcbabej/2013/05/08/how-leica-camera-is-reinventing-the-medium-format-market-on-its-own-terms/2/
ReplyDeleteNo vested interest on my part regarding Pentax….I'm a Leica customer these days. Pentax (now with Ricoh) is trying to recapture the MF market share it had in the film days. I found an article that states that 1.5% of pros shot MF film, while that percentage now is under one eighth of one percent….it's all a blip, not just Pentax.
Here...http://www.cnet.com/news/pentax-seeks-turnaround-with-tiny-q-giant-645-cameras/
DeleteThank you for this discussion, I wish more readers would take the time to do so.
ReplyDeleteI do recall the Schultz interview with Forbes. I doubt that any digital medium format camera manufacturer will ever gain the market shares as they had in the film days. Today's digital medium format cameras are too expensive for that. Accordingly, the total market shares are substantially smaller than what was the case during the film days. Subsequently it is also quite difficult to gain at least enough of a market share to sustain the manufacture of such cameras. A good example is the Rollei Hy 6 which was alo sold under the Sinar label. It was probably the most sophisticated medium format digital camera at the time, but they unfortunately did not succeed.