By David Farkas, LeicaStore Miami
With such a large pricereduction for the Leica SL (Typ 601) mirrorless pro body, many are questioning
Leica’s motives. An act of desperation to move inventory? A new model around
the corner? Is the SL system dead?
Price reductions aren’t
very common for Leica, so there is bound to be speculation. Here’s my take on
the price drop. While Leica isn’t saying for sure, I get the impression that it
serves two goals:
- Provide better global price harmonization (same price in different countries)
- Be more competitive against other full frame pro DSLR/Mirrorless cameras from Nikon, Canon and Sony to try to attract new users
Global Price Harmonization
Looking at the first goal,
the reality is that the SL body price here in the US was out of line with the
rest of the world when VAT was backed out. This was more apparent when compared
to other products in the Leica portfolio. But, now with the price adjustment,
the US pricing falls much closer to the rest of the world, and more squarely in
line with the M and Q systems. Maintaining equivalent pricing serves to protect
the brand value and not penalize any specific country due to currency
fluctuations.
More Competitive Against
Nikon and Canon
While the SL lenses are
priced higher than their Nikon and Canon counterparts, the body no longer is. A
Nikon D5 costs $6,495. A Canon 1Dx Mk II comes in at $5,999. With the revised
pricing, the SL is now on par with other offerings, rather than hovering some
$1,500 higher.
The case can certainly be
made for the superior optical performance and build quality of the Leica SL
glass versus Canon and Nikon lenses, but a good number of the photographers
that Leica is trying to attract still view a digital camera body as a commodity
of sorts. For those who have previously used other systems, then use the SL,
the difference becomes clear. Rock solid build. Elegant, simple interface.
Incredible EVF. And, of course, stunning image quality.
The challenge for Leica
has always been convincing these Nikon and Canon users to give the SL a try in
the first place. This price adjustment reflects Leica’s effort to attack this
market more aggressively. And I think the timing makes perfect sense, now that
the 24-90, 90-280 and 50 Summilux-SL are available, with the new range of
Summicron-SL primes and wide angle 16-35 zoom on the immediate horizon. A more
complete ecosystem makes for an easier sell.
As further evidence of
Leica’s goal of attracting new converts, just take a look at the SL launch.
Adapters quickly became available for Nikon and Canon lenses with full AF and
aperture control. Leica certainly wasn’t obligated to cooperate and could have easily
kept their L-mount proprietary. Instead, Leica engineers worked closely with
Novoflex to ensure these adapters were available shortly after launch, thereby
providing an easy migration path to the SL. And this was in addition to
providing adapters to Leica M, R and S lenses, PL mount cine lenses and
natively supporting existing and future TL glass.
Does this mean a new SL
body is on the way?
As far as clearing the
decks for a new body, I wouldn’t be so quick to jump to this conclusion. The SL
was only introduced 18 months ago as a brand new system, and the lens line is
still being developed. The Q is six months older than the SL and shows no signs
of being replaced. Leica’s product cycles are longer now. Four years passed between
the M240 and the M10. And, in many ways, the SL is actually more advanced than
the just-launched M10. From an image quality perspective, the SL and M10 offer
extremely similar performance. Leica has also been diligent about rolling out
regular firmware updates for the SL to continually improve the performance and
user experience.
Bottom line: The SL is not
an end of life product. Rather, it’s Leica’s current technology
standard-bearer. Based on other product cycles, I wouldn’t expect to see a
replacement for the SL in anything less than 18-24 months. And in the
meantime, Leica will be rolling out aton of new SL glass, further bolstering the system.
What if you already
purchased an SL at the old price?
There is never a perfect
time for a price adjustment. While a lower price benefits new entrants who are
looking to buy, the inevitable pain caused to current owners varies in degree
relative to when they bought into the system. Obviously, photographers who have
enjoyed using their SL for a year or more aren’t likely to take much notice.
But those who just pulled the trigger a few short weeks or months ago are bound
to feel some regret or resentment. If you recently purchased a new SL body at
the old price, I’d recommend reaching out to your dealer and seeing what they
can do for you.
Once the transition period
has passed, a price reduction will only have positive effects. More users
investing in the SL-System is better for existing owners, assuring Leica’s
ongoing support and development efforts. A healthy camera ecosystem relies on
both product innovation along with a substantial and growing user base. And I
do believe that this was the intention – to attract more users to a fantastic
camera system that Leica is fully committed to and continuing to expand through
new lenses and consistent firmware updates.
For other articles on this blog scroll down in the column to the right to BLOG ARCHIVE
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