Leica News & Rumors

Leica X1, D-Lux 4 now officially discontinued

LR admin — Thu, 24 May 2012 18:11:59 +0000

Leica X1

Leica has officially discontinued the following products:

018-163 V-LUX 30
018-400 X1, Black
018-420 X1, Steel Grey
018-643 D-LUX 4 Accessory Kit w/Battery
018-640 Lithium-Ion Akku Battery
018-658 AC Adapter ACA-DC5
018-663 Digilux w/Li-ion Battery BP-DC 3
013-336 Digilux 2 77E Circular Polarized Filter

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Fujifilm’s own Leica M-mount adapter for X-Pro1 now available

LR admin — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:45:01 +0000

Adorama now has a listing for the Fujifilms Leica M-mount adapter for X-Pro1 camera. There is no picture yet and I am curious if Fuji's adapter will be any different than the Kipon L/M-FX adapter.

Update: Fuji just made it official. The adapter has electronic connections for automatic lens profile selection. Here is the full press release and additional images:

Valhalla, N.Y., May 24, 2012 – FUJIFILM North America Corporation today announced that it will release an M-Mount Adapter for the FUJIFILM X-Pro1 interchangeable lens digital camera system, specially made to enhance the experience of taking photos with the professional X-Pro1 digital camera. The all new M-Mount Adapter is designed to expand the lens selection of the FUJIFILM X-Pro1 interchangeable lens digital camera system, and give photographers a wide range of shooting capabilities.

“Since the introduction of the FUJIFILM X100, Fujifilm has made a commitment to expanding the functionality of the X-Series, and today we are very pleased to offer customers a premium accessory that they can truly be excited about – an M-Mount Adapter for the FUJIFILM X-Pro1,” said Go Miyazaki, division president, Imaging and Electronic Imaging Divisions, FUJIFILM North America Corporation. “We listened very carefully to our customers about their desire for an M- Mount for the FUJIFILM X-Pro1, and we are proud to announce that this accessory will be available soon for everyone.”

Precision Made M-Mount Adapter
Similar to the FUJIFILM X-Pro1’s exacting design standards, the precision made M-Mount Adapter is engineered to deliver superb results for discerning photographers.

The M-Mount Adapter is comprised of three parts: an aluminum mount for the body, a stainless steel mount for the lens, and an aluminum central tube. This construction enables an accurately-maintained distance of 27.8mm from the lens mount to sensor, which is crucial for delivering high quality and high resolution images.

The camera side of the M-Mount Adapter features an array of electronic connections that automatically pass information to the FUJIFILM X-Pro1 body based on pre-registered lens profiles. With firmware version 1.10 or later, this information is transmitted by pressing the Function button on the side of the adapter, which allows users to access the M-Mount Adapter Settings menu on the rear LCD.

While attached, the M-Mount Adapter still allows users to enjoy the benefits of the FUJIFILM X-Pro1’s extraordinary Hybrid Multi Viewfinder. The Electronic Viewfinder (EVF) and LCD monitor both offer a 100% field of view, and the Optical Viewfinder (OVF) displays a bright frame corresponding to the focal length in use.

M-Mount Adapter ProvidesUltimate Control
The FUJIFILM M-Mount Adapter provides ultimate control by allowing users to create and fine tune lens profiles through the X-Pro1’s Mount Adapter Settings menu. This menu allows X-Pro1 users to profile up to six lenses. There are four pre-sets for 21mm, 24mm, 28mm and 35mm lenses, plus two optional settings for additional optics.

With the Fujifilm M-Mount Adapter attached, profiles can be user-defined, based on distortion, peripheral illumination and color shading corrections.

Three levels of distortion correction are also available to combat barrel distortion on wide-angle lenses, and pincushion distortion on telephoto lenses. Users can select from Strong, Medium or Weak correction, or simply turn any correction off.

Peripheral illumination controls the amount of darkening at the four corners of an image. Eleven levels of correction can be applied from +5 to -5 (including “0”) with users given the choice of darkening the corners of the image to emphasise a central subject or lightening edges for more even illumination across the frame.

Finally, color shading correction allows each corner of the frame to be color corrected to combat any shift in color between the center and edges of the frame. Corrections can be made to red/cyan color shading and blue/yellow color shading from -9 to +9 relative to the green channel.FUJIFILM M-Mount Adapter key features

Three-piece aluminium and stainless steel construction

27.8mm lens mount to sensor distance

Electronic connections and Function button

Compatible with Hybrid Multi Viewfinder

Lens profiles and corrections available through Mount Adapter Setting menu (firmware version 1.10 or later must be installed for using above features)

The M-Mount Adapter will be available in June 2012 for $199.99.

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Leica V-Lux 3 deal: free $150 gift card

LR admin — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:43:26 +0000

Adorama currently offers a free $150 gift card with the Leica V-Lux 3 camera.

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Leica X2 listed for June 6 release

LR admin — Wed, 23 May 2012 16:25:53 +0000

Amazon now lists the Leica X2 with a release date of June 6th, 2012.

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New version of DNG to NEF file converter released

LR admin — Wed, 23 May 2012 16:18:46 +0000

DNG2NEF v3.0 is now released. The software includes support for Leica M8, M9 Monochrom and S2.

As the name indicates, DNG2NEF is a free DNG to NEF converter for Leica users that already have an established Nikon Capture NX2 workflow.

Leica M Monochrome, X2, 50mm Apo Summicron samples, reviews, etc.

LR admin — Wed, 23 May 2012 16:10:33 +0000

An update to my previous list of links/reviews/samples of the new Leica products.

The Leica M Monochrom Hands On Review. See also this X2 samples set on flickr.
Leica M9 Monochrom pictures and hands-on from Pocket-Lint.
Preview of the new Leica M Monochrom & APO-Summicron-M 50mm from Invisiblephotographer.
Leica X2 samples at Photographyblog.
Leica X2 samples at Cnet Asia.
The Leica M-Monochrom review by Ming Thein.
Leica M Monochrom and X2 sample photos from Ephotozine.
Few M Monochrom and 50mm APO-Summicron samples on flickr.
Leica X2 video review:

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Black and silver Leica 50mm f/1.4 Summilux-M ASPH lens now in stock

LR admin — Mon, 21 May 2012 23:08:15 +0000

B&H currently has a black ~~and~~ ~~silver~~ Leica 50mm f/1.4 Summilux-M ASPH lens in stock.

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The Mystery of Leica Pricing Explained by J Shin

LR admin — Sat, 19 May 2012 15:45:56 +0000

This is an interesting guest post on Leica's products pricing by J Shin:

Every time there is any kind of a product-related announcement here and elsewhere, there are a number of invariable comments complaining about and/or defending Leica's price strategy. In making these comments, people make references to various economic and noneconomic reasons why Leicas are priced the way they are. This essay is an attempt to show that, basically, almost everybody is right, at least when it comes to Leica's profit motives. Rather than nefarious greed, devious psychological warfare, and, as some often mention, Dr. Kaufmann's ignorance of Leica fandom, Leica prices are basically a function of mathematical inevitability.

First, a disclaimer. I am not an economist or an accountant. I have worked in marketing, and I do have a PhD in political science, but, really, I know more about macroeconomics, the economics of whole nations, than microeconomics, the economics of individual corporations. Still, I think I have some handle on the concepts involved, and much of it is intuitive, at least to me, so here we are. Please feel free to post any objections you have, since I'm basically making it up as I go. Also, I am leaving a lot of little details out, and keeping things simple; if there is demand for it (har-har), I will supply further elaborations.

The Basics

Here is a diagram explaining the basics of how to set prices of a product.

Figure 1. Cost, revenue, and profit

Again, this is a simplified graph that does not truck with the finer points of "marginal cost" and "marginal revenue", which is difficult to understand for most people. It is also an illustration, rather than empirically accurate. If you want to be more accurate, be my guest; you can probably do a better job than I can.

First, the green line, the cost curve. This is the familiar "economy of scale" curve. To produce any product, there needs to be an initial investment, which I will call "capital". This acts more-or-less like a "one time expense", and it is fixed through the life cycle of the product. So, at quantity=0, your cost per unit is basically infinite, and at quantity=1, the cost of producing that one M9 is basically the price of the whole factory. Then, the more M9s you produce, the less "capital" you need to recoup in each unit of M9 you need to sell, forming a curve shaped like y = c/x, asymptotically approaching a limit as quantity (x axis) increases.

The lower limit is the on-going cost. This includes the cost of labor, parts, maintenance of equipment, sales, marketing, and managerial overhead involved in each M9. Although these, too, decrease with volume, there is sort of a limit to how low it can go. (There is also a limit on quantity, known as "production capacity", which I will discuss later.) This is why as quantity goes to infinity, cost does not reach 0, but hits a sort of a price "floor", the minimum possible cost of producing and selling an M9, even after you've recouped your initial capital investment.

Second, the red line, the revenue curve. This is a function of how many M9s one could sell at a given price and is a measure of consumer sentiment toward the product. One thing to note here. With revenue, the price per unit determines the quantity sold, whereas, with cost, the quantity produced determines the cost per unit. This makes these graphs a bit confusing, since the x-axis is the causal variable for cost, whereas the y-axis is the causal variable for revenue.

Anyway, the revenue curve starts at a point where the price is so high that literally no one would buy it, and goes to the point where, even if you give away M9s for free, there is a natural limit to how many people would take it. Wait, you may be saying, why would anyone not want an M9? Actually, I might not take an M9 even if it is free; I don't like (gasp!) rangefinders. My eyes can't handle them. Also, M lenses are too expensive for me, and I have a stable of telephoto R lenses, too long for a rangefinder. An M9 won't do me any good, since R lenses are not rangefinder-coupled anyway. I can't even sell it and buy a Nikon D800E and some Leitax adapters, because, being free, no one would pay for my M9. So, no go. My partner would not take the M9, either; she rarely takes photographs, and she would laugh at the price of the lenses, even the Voigtländers. I'm the girl with the camera in this family, and I don't want it, although I see the point, and she doesn't even see the point. You get the point.

So, you can see that, in most cases, the revenue line and the cost lines intersect at two points. (The exceptions would be if the revenue line falls below the cost line; then you're screwed, and can't make any profit off your M9, at any price.) In between these two points, we have a viable business that is profitable. Somewhere in the middle is kind of a "sweet spot", where the revenue line is far above the cost line. This is the "profit maximization" point where every company strives to be.

Actually, it is a bit more complicated:

Figure 2. Maximum profit per unit vs. maximum profit overall.

The point you want to hit to maximize profit is likely at a lower price than the price at which you would have maximum profit per unit. You sacrifice the per-unit profit a little, but then make up for it with increased quantity, because (total profit) = (profit per unit) x (quantity sold). If you lower the price too far, however, you may have more revenue, but end up with lower overall profit. (I know I did a lousy job with the graphs, but the general idea behind these graphs is still valid.)

So, a company has a few choices. If you set the price above the "no one will buy" point, no one will buy your product, so one would not do that. If the price/quantity is set at "X", you can't sell very many, and lose a lot of money. If the price/quantity is set at "A", we have a luxury item that is limited in production strategically or out of necessity. It may be that it's hard to find a lot of people who are skilled enough to make M9s, or quality control becomes difficult at higher volume. Or perhaps the special sapphire something-or-other cannot be produced in mass quantities. Or, you just want to run a small shop, do a little work with a small staff, and make just enough to keep you happy; you will be profitable, but not very profitable. (I will address the luxury marketing strategy later.)

If the price/quantity is set to "B", you are making as much money off your operation as you possibly can. But, is that really where you want to be? Sometimes, market share is more important than profit; having a large market share of full-frame cameras, for instance, allows you to sell more full-frame lenses. You may also need more revenue, even at lower profit, to have more cash on hand to do other short-term things. You would then set your price/quantity to something like "C". Or, you can sell M9s at a loss by setting your price/quantity at "D". A lot of people will buy M9s, and then plunk down more money for the lenses and viewfinders and motors and those fantastic-looking cases that advertise to every purse-snatcher that the camera you are holding with a piece of electrical tape over the red logo is, indeed, a Leica. Give away the camera, sell other stuff. This is the strategy followed by most inkjet printer manufacturers and cell phone services.

Prestige Pricing

So, then, what happens if the prestige of a product goes up? Let us assume, for the rest of this exercise, that Dr. Kaufmann is basically interested in maximizing the profit on the M9. I want that, in fact, because more profit from M9 means more capital for the full-frame mirrorless with EVF and contrast detect that I keep asking for. Or maybe the R10 or a new DMR. Right.

Anyway,

Figure 3. Prestige and profit

The M9 and the M9-P are basically the same thing, and the actual cost of producing them, at the same quantity, are probably close to identical. Edmund Optics sells optical-grade 2.5-inch all-band sapphire windows for $354 each; my guess is that the M9 window costs about $100 at quantity, which will be mostly canceled out by the savings from the absence of the red dot, right? Regardless, I am going to assume, for convenience, that they cost exactly the same at the same quantity. Then, I'm throwing in here an imaginary Panasonic-branded M9, made in the same factory and everything, so same cost at the same quantity.

Whether we like it or not, the Leica brand does mean something. There is a reputation for quality and value, established over more than a century, that is undeniably well-deserved, despite the many mistakes they have made. Panasonic, by contrast, says "cheap mass market", no matter the actual quality of the product. That means that people are going to buy more Leicas than Panasonics at the same price. Wouldn't you by the D-Lux 5 rather than the DMC-LX5 if they were the same price? Or, even, the Leica PA-Curtagon 4/35 rather than the Schneider PA-Curtagon 4/35? Crazy, but true.

Same with the M9-P. There is something magical about that logolessness and the sapphire window, although they add little to the image-capturing ability of the cameras that a piece of electrical tape over the logo cannot achieve. Yes, image-capturing is what we buy these for, right? Right? Oh. That's why I don't want an M9... because I can't capture anything with it that is in focus. Oh, well.

Now, note that the "price at which no one will buy" is also higher for the more "prestigious" models, but, as the price drops, the difference between the models kinda' disappear. In the end, someone who does not want an M9 would not want it no matter what its name is. Rose is a rose by any other name, and I'm just as allergic to the smell.

And, now, finally, look what happens to the "sweet spot"! M9-P's price needs to be set higher, and the quantity lower, because of its "prestige" curve, even though more people would buy it at the same price. Panasonic, by contrast, must sell at a lower price, but that will get them higher quantity.

No nefarious desire to control people's mind is required here. Nothing about the constraints of the economy of scale. M9-P is more expensive because more people would want it at the same price, not because fewer people would dare buy it. Ironically, in cases of prestige, higher demand leads to lower quantity.

What one really needs, then, is great marketing research, to see where people's minds are at, and great marketing, so people will perceive your product as more desirable, more prestigious, thus moving the revenue curve. This is the hard part. Sigma's SD-1 is, no doubt, a fantastic product, with stellar image quality for an APS-C sensor. However, Sigma also has a reputation for "cheap", and the SD-1 apparently also has clunky software that helps mar its reputation, without 100 years of history, like Leica's, to earn any forbearance. In other words, Sigma was hoping that the image quality of the SD-1 would speak for itself, and make it a "prestige" product. Unfortunately, as they quickly realized, it was treated as a mass-market product, just as a Panasonic-branded M9 would be. Same thing basically happened with the Zeiss Ikon, which was every bit as good as the M6, but the fact that it was made by Cosina, not Zeiss, meant that its price had to be significantly lower. Even Zeiss has a slightly lower "reputation price" than Leica, although arguably they are just as capable as Leica in many ways.

The M9-M as a Prestige Product

Oh, then, what about the M9-M, the monochrome version of the M9? One can assume that some people would really want it. These are the people who really need it because of the kind of work they do, or people who want it because it seems really cool and, besides, it looks great when Seal is holding it.

Still, people who are at the "mass" end of the curve, those who would buy a Leica only if it is dirt cheap, would be a lot less likely to want it. To them, the black-and-white sensor is not a great feature, but rather a lack of feature.

Hence,

Figure 4. The M9-M and M9 compared

I am assuming here that the M9-M is, at the same quantity, cheaper to produce than the M9. Normally, this would make it so the sweet spot is at a lower-price/higher-quantity combination. However, the steeper and higher curve of the M9-M demand makes it so that the price needs to be higher to maximize profit. To the left of and above the intersection between the revenue curves of the two models, denoted by "A", we have a few people who really want it. To the right of and below the intersection, denoted by "B", most people would prefer to have the M9, and you'd practically have to give the M9-M away to increase the sales quantity much. So, having fewer, more fanatic customers leads to lower quantity and higher price, even at lower cost.

Production Capacity and Expansion

Now, about the new building and expanded factory. Sometimes, you end up with a facility that cannot actually let you reach the "sweet spot" quantity you need in order to maximize your profit:

Figure 5. Production capacity

If you could make more, you could sell more at a lower price, but there is a problem: building a factory costs money. So, to produce more, your cost per unit will have to increase. In other words:

Figure 6. The effect of expansion.

Still, even with the slight increase in cost, the greater production capacity allows you to lower the price even further than you could have before the expansion.

If you cannot, in fact, increase your profit by adding a factory, you would have to have a reason other than the profit motive to do it. This gets a little complicated, since the goal is to maximize the profit of the whole company, not of a single product, but, if they've done their homework, Leica should be able to lower the price once their production capacity increases, even for their "prestige" products. If profit is the motive, it is not in their interest to keep the prices higher than the profit-maximization price, or quantity lower than the quantity-maximization quantity.

So, yay, new factory!

Inflated Pricing?

You may have noticed that I do not address the question of "Is Dr. Kaufmann inflating the price, in order to create prestige?" I will touch on this here briefly, using the models I have laid out so far, but with a less quantitative, more speculative spirit. On the surface, the argument makes sense, and I'm sure many companies do that, but I doubt that this is the case with Leica. If Dr. Kaufmann is raising the price to create prestige, then he is running a very expensive marketing campaign. Remember, excessively high price results in higher per-unit profit, but lower overall profit. Think about all the profit he loses by raising the price. Wouldn't it have been better to collect all that and hire a stable of well-respected professional photographers to take some fantastic images and post them on their Web site? Wait, they are already doing that! (Man, have you seen those S2 raw image samples?) In fact, given Leica's history and reputation, most people would be happy to do it for the price of a single M9 and a single Summilux, or for as little as the pleasure of using an S2 for a month or two. Heck, I'd do it! Wouldn't you? Why raise the price and lose the sale of dozens of M9s, when you know it would also piss a lot of people off, and when you can increase the prestige for the price of one or two? When renovating a small section of a reputable store in a rich neighborhood will do? When many such stores would be willing to pay to do it themselves? It seems unlikely that Dr. Kaufmann would sacrifice significant amount of profit for a very ineffective, risky campaign, when other, very cost-effective campaigns are available.

It may also be more effective to sell at maximum profit, and use the profit to develop new products and features that will further add to the prestige of the brand. They have done that with all those "special edition" cameras, believe it or not; I said "new", not "innovative". Hopefully they have done that with the M9-M, and will do it with the mirrorless "solution" this fall.

Thanks, Comrades!

I hope this makes some sense and enlightens our discussions, which, as I have said elsewhere, I enjoy immensely, even when things turn less civilized.

Thank you for your indulgence. Again, please feel free to comment and/or offer alternative models.

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Leica S2 firmware update v1.0.3.3

LR admin — Fri, 18 May 2012 16:34:28 +0000

Leica Camera AG released new firmware update v1.0.3.3 for their S2 medium format camera. The changes in this version are support for the new Leica S-Adapter H and improved flash synchronization with 1/125 focal plane shutter. The firmware can be downloaded from Leica Owner's Area.

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Leica V-Lux 40 now in stock

LR admin — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:42:34 +0000

The new Leica V-Lux 40 compact digital camera is currently in stock at B&H Photo and Dale Photo & Digital.

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Leica announces opening of extended premium retail facilities in Bruton Place, Mayfair

LR admin — Thu, 17 May 2012 14:38:44 +0000

Café Optik and Leica Client Care now offering a unique, personal service as part of Leica Store Mayfair experience; discreet new studio open for professional photographers

17 May 2012: Leica Camera Ltd has today announced the opening of its extended retail premises encompassing three buildings in Bruton Place, Mayfair, providing Leica customers with a range of premium services, including Café Optik, a complimentary café-style area for Leica owners, and the company’s exclusive new professional photographic studio, Studio-S.

At 27 Bruton Place, located just off Berkeley Square in Mayfair, Leica’s Client Care team offers expert advice tailored to customers’ specific needs, as well as light repairs for camera and optics customers, and sensor-cleaning for Leica M- and S-System owners. Alongside this facility is Café Optik, providing a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, where customers are welcomed when visiting any part of the Leica complex.

With convenient and efficient access for professional photographers, a new rental service is also available on the ground floor: Rental-S. This service incorporates rental of Leica’s high performance S-System, as well as hire of Studio-S.

Studio-S is available to hire exclusively to photographers using the Leica S-System, and includes changing and make-up areas, hospitality and digital operator facilities. The studio is ideally located and appropriate for high-profile or private shoots, where discretion is paramount. As well as on-site equipment, Leica offers additional support such as Leica-trained photographic assistants, therefore providing a unique hire package. Information on hire, including costs and availability, can be obtained by calling 020 7629 1351, or emailing hire@leica-camera.co.uk.

At 34 Bruton Place, the Leica Store Mayfair continues to offer the entire range of Leica products, with the expanded Leica Akademie training facility and new Leica Media Centre located upstairs on the first floor.

In addition, gallery space will be available throughout the three-building complex in the future, showcasing the best in Leica photography.

Bruton Place is located in the heart of Mayfair between Old Bond Street and Berkeley Square. For more information on the Leica Store Mayfair, and all Leica products and services in the UK, please visit www.leica-storemayfair.co.uk

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Poll: Who is buying the new Leica products?

LR admin — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:40:45 +0000

I am just curious how many readers are planning on buying the newly announced Leica products - this post contains three different polls for the M9-M, X2 and 50mm Cron lens. I did not include the M9-P Hermes limited edition because they will be all sold out anyway.

Leica M Monochrom, 18MP B&W only sensor, $7,950.00:

Leica X2, 24mm f/2.8, APS-C 16.2MP, EVF, $1,995.00:

APO Summicron 50mm f/2 ASPH lens for Leica M rangefinders, $7,195.00:

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Podcast with Jono Slack on the latest Leica products

LR admin — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:40:24 +0000

Serious Compacts published a very interesting podcast with Jono Slack on the latest Leica products that were announced last week. The full podcast is also available for free on iTunes.

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Record number of entries for the Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2012

LR admin — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:25:41 +0000

This year Leica Camera AG reported a record number of entries for the 2012 Oskar Barnack award - so far there are 2,800 submissions from 101 different countries compared to 2000 entries for last year. The winners will be announced on 20 June 2012.

Oskar Barnack Award 2012 Jury Video from Leica Camera on Vimeo.

Get an inside look at the 2012 Oskar Barnack Award Jury in action. The jury members included: Bruce Gilden, Magnum photographer, Stephan Erfurt, Director of the C/O Berlin, Valérie Fougeirol, Creative Director of the Magnum Gallery in Paris, Karin Rehn-Kaufmann, Artistic Director of the Leica Galerie in Salzburg and Brigitte Schaller, Art Director of Leica Fotografie International magazine.

The winners of the two awards, the Leica Oskar Barnack Award and the Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award 2012, will be announced on 20 June 2012.

Press release:

NEW RECORD NUMBER OF ENTRIES FOR THE 2012 LEICA OSKAR BARNACK AWARD

Winners of the esteemed international photography competition to be announced June 20, 2012

Solms, Germany (May 17, 2012) - Leica Camera AG has again received a record number of entries for the annual Leica Oskar Barnack Award, the highly regarded international photographic competition for professional photographers. Approximately 2,800 entries from 101 different countries had been received for assessment by the March 1, 2012 submission deadline, up 40% from last year’s competition total of 2,000 entries. The majority of this year’s entries came from Germany, China and the USA. The winners of the two awards, the Leica Oskar Barnack Award and the Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award 2012, will be announced on June 20, 2012.

Presented for the 33rd time this year, the Leica Oskar Barnack Award’s jury members include: Bruce Gilden, Magnum Photographer, Stephan Erfurt, Director of the C/O Berlin, Valérie Fougeirol, Creative Director of the Magnum Gallery in Paris, Karin Rehn-Kaufmann, Artistic Director of the Leica Galerie in Salzburg and Brigitte Schaller, Art Director of Leica Fotografie International magazine. A video of the jury sitting can now viewed online at www.leica-oskar-barnack-award.com.

The Leica Oskar Barnack Award and Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award 2012 will be presented during the Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie photography festival on July 3, 2012. The value of the prizes has been increased again since last year. The winner of the 2012 Leica Oskar Barnack Award will receive a Leica M9-P camera and lenses in addition to a cash prize of 5,000 euros. The photographer taking first place in the ‘Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award’ category will also receive an M9-P and lenses.

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Leica M10 with video at Photokina, mirrorless interchangeable lens camera could be delayed

LR admin — Sat, 12 May 2012 17:30:59 +0000

In an interview with BJP, Dr. Andreas Kaufmann hinted that Leica may not be ready with their new mirrorless interchangeable lens camera system for Photokina 2012:

"We can't produce enough of what we already have. There's a project in place, but no timeframe. But you should come to our event on 17 September to see what we have."

On the same topic, the CEO of Leica Alfred Schopf said:

"We already have the best compact camera system here, with the M9. Now, we have to look at the size of the lenses. Do we like having a Coca-Cola can in front of a small camera body. The combination between the camera body and the lens has to fit."

Regarding the upcoming Leica M10, Dr. Kaufman confirmed to BJP that the new M camera will have video recording capabilities and that they were able to solve several problems like data rate, battery lifecycle and heat emissions.

A new M10 with CMOS sensor, live view and video was already mentioned by Stefan Daniel last year.

Leica Camera AG will continue to work with Truesense Imaging on future sensor development.

For Photokina 2012, Leica have booked the entire Hall 1 of the Cologne exhibition center.

There were also some rumors that Leica may introduce a new S3 medium format camera for Photokina.

New world record for the most expensive camera: 2,790,000 USD for Leica 0-Serie

LR admin — Sat, 12 May 2012 16:34:27 +0000

At the May 12th WestLicht Photographica auction in Vienna, a new record was set for the most expensive camera in the world - this Leica 0-Serie camera with serial number 116 sold for 2,160,000 EUR (around 2,790,000 USD). The previous world record was also for a Leica 0-Serie Nr.107 that sold for 1.3 million EUR (1.9 million USD) last year.

This Leica M3 Gold sold for EUR 360.000 (around 460,000 USD):

All auction results can be found on westlicht-auction.com (PDF file available here), all M cameras are listed here.

Video of the actual bidding for the Leica 0-Series camera:

All expectations of the 21st WestLicht camera auction were exceeded: For the 5th time the world record for the most expensive camera ever sold was broken at a WestLicht auction in Vienna with a winning bid of 2,160,000,- EUR including buyer’s premium.

The third of the 629 lots to be auctioned, with a starting price of 300,000 EUR was an extremely rare exemplar of the Leica 0-Series, a test camera from the year 1923. In an exciting bidding war between the room, phone and internet bidders, the price of the camera climbed to a new world record. The bidder who secured the rare exemplar would like to remain anonymous.

Further highlights of the camera-auction:
One of only two existing M3 Leica cameras (Lot 113), that was officially gold plated by Leitz, was sold for 360,000 Euro (starting price 40,000; Estimate 70,000 – 90,000 Euro).

A 250FF (Lot 34), one of the most exiting screw-mount Leica cameras ever offered for sale in auction, climbed from a starting price of 12,000 to 120,000 EUR.

An Elcan 1/90mm + KE-7A (186) had a 228,000 Euro collector’s value.
(Starting price 30,000). This ultra-rare and extremely fast lens was produced for the US Navy, only 10 of these were made. This is the first lens in the series and was for the first time offered in auction!

In total 95 percent of the camera lots were sold, and the total turnover of the 21st camera auction was 5,351,000 EUR.

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Black enamel Leica MP-126 sold for $158,000 at Tamarkin & Bertoldi Vintage Auctions

LR admin — Sat, 12 May 2012 16:01:35 +0000

At the recent Tamarkin & Bertoldi Vintage Auctions, a black enamel Leica MP-126 with a 50mm Summicron lens sold for $130,000 plus commissions - a total of $158,000. The complete auction results can be found on tamarkin.com.

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Leica Boutique opens at Camera West in Rancho Mirage, California

LR admin — Sat, 12 May 2012 15:53:18 +0000

Allendale, NJ (May 11, 2012) – Leica Camera Inc., the legendary German camera and sport optics brand, announces the opening of the Leica Boutique at Camera West in Rancho Mirage, CA. Featuring an extensive selection of the Leica photography and sport optics product portfolio, the store-in-store retail concept provides an exceptional resource for professional and amateur photographers to experience Leica Camera firsthand. The Leica Boutique at Camera West will celebrate its grand opening on May 19, 2012 from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

“Leica Camera offers photographers unparalleled creative freedom and inspiration by producing products of outstanding quality and craftsmanship. Leica Boutiques celebrate these core values and create an incomparable buying experience for our customers,” said Roland Wolff, Director of Corporate Retail at Leica Camera Inc. “With the partnership between Leica Camera and Camera West, Leica aficionados, professional and amateur photographers as well as those new to the brand have the opportunity to discover Leica Camera in a memorable and interactive setting.”

To celebrate the grand opening, Leica Representatives will be on hand to present newly announced products in the Leica portfolio. In addition, Leica Product Specialist Ben Ross will demonstrate the Leica S2, a revolutionary digital camera concept for supreme professional requirements. A complimentary brunch will be offered during the morning hours and hors d'oeuvres in the afternoon.

To RSVP to the opening celebration events, please email RSVP@camerawest.com.

Store hours are 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM Monday - Friday and 10am-4pm Saturday. The location is closed Sunday. Camera West is located at:
70-177 Hwy 111, #100
Rancho Mirage, CA 92270
Phone: 760.992.5422

Leica Boutiques complement Leica Stores and an extensive dealer network. For additional information, please visit www.camerawest.com.

About Leica Camera:
Leica represents a union of craftsmanship, technology and experience. It is at once an extension of art, knowledge and philosophy, providing a state-of-the-art optical experience in a precision, hand-made photographic instrument. Leica Camera has a simple mission: to provide users with an incomparable experience, an instrument that defines an unsurpassed heritage and sets a standard of excellence for the industry to meet.

About Camera West:
Camera West is a California-based business which specializes in the highest quality photographic equipment. Camera West was founded January 2000 by Sean Cranor, and is staffed by professionals who are passionate about photography. The staff possesses expert product knowledge. The store provides exemplary customer service and is dedicated to strong, long-term, customer relationships.

Product offerings span from large format to subminiature, in both digital and analog formats. Camera West also stocks new and used items, from the latest digital cameras, backs, printers and accessories to rare and unusual collectible cameras and museum pieces.

Camera West operates two locations in Rancho Mirage, CA and Walnut Creek, CA.

Posted by LeicaRumors.com
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Videos from Leica’s May 10th event

LR admin — Sat, 12 May 2012 15:43:23 +0000

Few videos of Leica's May 10th event from Leica Camera AG and Eric Kim:

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New Leica products available for pre-order

LR admin — Thu, 10 May 2012 21:04:30 +0000

The new Leica products are now available for pre-order:

Adorama

Leica 50mm f/2 APO-Summicron-M Aspherical lens
Leica M9 Monochrom rangefinder
Leica V-Lux 40
Leica X2 camera black
Leica X2 camera silver

B&H

Leica 50mm f/2 APO-Summicron-M Aspherical lens
Leica M9 Monochrom rangefinder
Leica V-Lux 40
Leica X2 camera black
Leica X2 camera silver
Leica X2 leather case (brown)
Leica X2 ever-ready case
Leica X2 camera protector

DalePhoto

Leica 50mm f/2 APO-Summicron-M Aspherical lens
Leica M9 Monochrom rangefinder
Leica X2 camera black
Leica X2 camera silver
Leica S-Adapter H

Check the posts bellow for additional coverage of the new Leica products.

Posted by LeicaRumors.com
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