Translation of Leica Solms meeting with
The Leica Camera Forum and points clarified
by Stefan Daniel (Leica Product Manager)
(I have added comments in Red for your information)
Panasonic Cooperation
The Panasonic cooperation will continue
More compact cameras to come
Leica and Micro FourThirds
Leica is not going to offer MFT cameras
Leica may offer MFT lenses
MFT is and interesting system
Sensor size is a very limiting factor
Leica And The Forum
Leica is not going to run aits own forum on their website
Collaboration is seen as running well and constructive
Positive example is the first L-Camera TV show from the Leica production
Many Lecia employees are reading in this forum regularly, so that important contributions in the forum are reported immediately to the management
The forum provides many contribution to the product development
Stefan Daniel agrees to answer forum questions more often in the future
Leica As Lens Supplier for Other Camera Systems
Patents needed are only swapped inside of the Japanese camera industry
Zeiss lenses are manufactured by Cosina who are seen as Japanese company
That way Zeiss receives the patents, Leica as German company does not
Leica's attempts to come to an agreement failed until now
Reverse engineering is legally too risky
Extending The Product Range
No Leica scanners are planned
The LCD projector range is continued but won't have interchangeable lenses
Maybe the customer service will offer to implement different lenses
R-System
R10 and Alternatives
There will be no digital SLR aka R10
But there will be - and we are working on this - a suitable solution
how to use R lenses digitally
It's very important to us, that owners of R lenses can take pictures
digitally in the near future
This solution will have nothing to do to with the S2
Leica has examined intensively which features and what price tag a R10 had to have
Price would have been 6000 - 7000 Euro and it would have been far behind the competitors
This would have been a solution for the existing customer base
but not for the new customers
Therefore the R system is discontinued, the existing system runs out
There is no due date for the new solution
Indirect notes by Stefan Daniel to 35mm full format
Definitely it's not going to be a SLR
(May I suggest purchasing Leica R lenses
now whilst they are so relatively inexpensive
in readiness for Leica's Digital Solution)
DMR
The reasons for stopping the DMR were
Cooperation with Imacon now Hasselblad ended very abruptly
Sales figures were low (approx. 10% of M8/M8.2)
The DMR firmware will have no updates.
M-System
M9
A LEICA M9 will come
Developing full format is technically very demanding because of the M lenses
We are one step further but still not there where we can announce the camera
Look out for an impending
announcement
on 09/09/09
Could it be an M?
M8 Upgrades
No more upgrade are planned
Dealers don't like upgrades as no additional sales are generated
The M8 upgrade constrained Leica M8.2 sales
Used cameras are entry level cameras thus attracting new customers to Leica
This would drop by future upgrade offers
Sensor Supplier
Kodak is prepared to Leica's needs, for example the special size of the S2 sensor
Other manufactures like Sony only offer a fixed range of sensors
Summarits / Entry Level Lenses
Summarits are true Leica lenses
The LEICA ELMAR-M f/3.8 24mm was already an extension of this line
More affordable Leica lenses are to come - perhaps not named Summarit
(reserved for f2.5 lenses)
Summilux 50mm sales are 100% above Summarit sales
Super Wide Lenses
Asked for super wide lenses:
Leica already has a 16mm - Leica can only offer shorter lenses
This is a topic we could work on...
18mm Finder Availability
18mm finder to come in June
The frame precision wasn't sufficient so therefore a rework was necessary
NOCTILUX Availability
NOCTILUX was announced for February
Production turned out to be more complex than assumed
NOCTILUX consists of 8 elements in 5 groups
These groups are first commented, then coated
This process had problems which are solved now
End of June, Beginning of July larger quantities will reach the market
S-System
Pilot lot is in production by now
Everything is on schedule
Price will be on the same level as the top cameras in the digital professional segment - like high end solutions by Hasselblad and Phase One
Body will be below 20,000 Euros
Because of the Leica lens quality and the lacking low-pass filter LEICA S2 can compete with 50MP cameras of the competitors
Target group of the S2 are professional photographers (studio, fashion, automobile)
Total market are about 10,000 cameras per year
Leica is going for at least two digit market share
e&oe
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Leica M8/M8-2 Workshops
I am organising an
M8 Workshop incorporating
Using and Post Production of
the Leica M8 Digital System
Please e.mail me through our
contact page if you would be
interested in attending an informal
group presentation by Leica Sponsored
Representatives - @September/October
Please contact as soon as possible as
final arrangements are now being
made - Priority will be given to
M8 M8-2 owners who purchased
their cameras from Stephens
NEW NOCTILUX SPOTTED
Orders Now Being Taken for September
Delivery - 10% Deposit Secures
LEICA INFORMATION and UPDATES
Special Edition Leica D-Lux 4's Expected Soon
See Safari Set
New Leica Wetzlar Factory and Museum
Now on Schedule for 2012
Leica Binoculars Cashback Offer
Leica Price Reduction on C-Lux 3
Now only £259
Photo Trade Magazine Pixel in an article on the new LeicaShop
opening in London states that 90% of Leica UK sales are attained
through only Six UK Appointed Dealers
M8 and M8-2 UV/IR FILTER ORDERSIt has been pointed out to us that anyone waiting more
than a few weeks for filters from
Leica in Germany under
the free filter offer with new cameras should make sure they had
put a contact telephone number when ordering. Failure to do this
will result in non-delivery due to the Couriers needing a contact
number for shipping. We suggest you call
Leica in Germany to
confirm status and update if necessary.
Contact details can be found at:
www.leica-camera.comNew
Leica Store and Demonstration Centre to open later this year
in Mayfair London announces
David Bell from
Leica UK 
Focus Confirmation Adapter for Leica R Lenses on any Canon Digital SLR
£29.95