The new Leica M-system 2012 wall calendar is now available on LFI for EUR 45. Check out also the new S-Magazine and the LFI Gallery slide show feature.
Solms, Germany (November 30, 2011) - Leica Camera AG, in conjunction with Magnum Photos, presents the Leica M-System wall calendar for 2012. Titled ‘Past. Present. Future.,’ the calendar shares its name with the motto of the partnership between Magnum and Leica and contains six monochrome and six color images shot with Leica’s flagship M cameras by a selection of well-known Magnum photographers.
Each calendar image is accompanied by a few words from the photographer along with information about the camera used. The photographers selected include: Alex Majoli, Richard Kalvar, Bruno Barbey, Martine Franck, Paul Fusco, Alex Webb, Constantine Manos, Rene Burri, Mark Power and Elliott Erwitt. Each photographer is represented by at least one image and several contributed two. The result is a high-quality wall calendar with widely differing images that provide impressive insights into the world of photojournalism captured with the Leica rangefinder system.
The Leica M-System wall calendar in landscape format (approximately 16.5 x 28.3 in) will be available from the LFI online shop at www.lfi-online.de, Leica stores and Leica distributors beginning December 2011.
About the collaboration between Leica Camera AG and Magnum Photos:
In February 2011, Leica Camera AG and Magnum Photos signed a technological and photographic partnership agreement founded on the common history of these two world-famous photographic institutions that goes back almost one hundred years. New chapters in this story of long-standing dedication to the field of independent documentary photography will be written in a number of joint projects under the motto of ‘Past. Present. Future.’
Against this common background, a number of independently produced multimedia essays by Magnum photographers began production in Spring 2011 and will be presented online at www.leica-camera.com, www.lfi-online.de and www.magnumphotos.com. Additionally, the partnership provides an opportunity to gain knowledge and insight from the experience of Magnum photographers working in the field with the latest Leica equipment. The field reports from Magnum photographers will make a significant contribution to the comprehensive user requirements analyses already performed by Leica, assisting in the mutual aim of developing the Leica product portfolio to ensure that products continue to meet the needs of photographers around the world.
Related posts:
- Leica to launch a new compact mirrorless system camera at Photokina 2012
- There is also a limited edition Leica calendar
- Leica S-System delivers the ultimate Fantasy Portraits
- Leica Camera AG Q1 financial results for 2011/2012 fiscal year are out
- Invitation to submit entries for the 2012 Leica Oskar Barnack Award
8 Comments
How retarded of Leica to keep promoting their M system almost exclusively as a Photojournalism tool, when its capabilities extend so far beyond, even into the realms of fine-art landscape/nature and architecture photography. What a complete waste of the ultra-high-end Leica optics if the system is being marketed only to the Photojournalism crowd, where 90%+ of the times nobody gives a damn about detail/sharpness/composition. Heck, every photo I saw in the LFI calendar (see link in the article above) could have been shot by a complete amateur using a $100 point-and-shoot!! And btw, as the owner of a Leica M9, and the latest Summilux 50mm asph, Summicron 90mm APO and Elmarit 28mm asph lenses, I think I know what I am talking about here… My 2 cents. Cheers!
That is harsh…. I’d agree with your assessment for SOME of the shots, but not every shot…. particularly not when it comes to Rene Burri
Peter… I like to live up to my name
btw, my name is pronounced more like “Hirsh”, and would you believe it, it means “happiness/joy” in Sanskrit! And getting back to your comment, I was not just talking about the shots in the LFI calendar…. I was trying to make a more general statement about Leica’s obsession with marketing the M equipment almost exclusively for Photojournalism purposes, when its application could be equally – if not even more – fruitful in other genres of photography. As an example, please take a look at my Iceland photos (click my name above) that were shot 3 months ago with my M9 system – absolutely breathtaking RAW images! My past equipment includes: large-format 4×5 Linhof & Arca-Swiss, Hasselblad 39MP, Nikon D3X, etc.
I understand your point, and I certainly know the advantages of not having to lug a whole lot of gear up the side of a mountain. Leica could expand their marketing of the M9 way beyond a photojournalist focus. Nice shots Harsh. Have you done any large prints from your M9 shots? How do you feel about it relation to your medium an large format work?
kudos to your work. your photos look expensive.
I agree that Leica could promote it’s products better. Though I have to say as a ‘landscape camera’ my years of experience has found the M platform to be a bit restrictive. It’s fine for the average, broad, ‘scapes’, but as a camera for ‘nature-scapes’ that can encompass macro or any situation where it can’t compete with an SLR, it fails.
Leica is currently trapped in it’s own legendary past – by their own choice – so be it. Too, there are many images that come from excellent photojournalists where they don’t care or worry about bokeh, etc. Creativity goes beyond the ultra-fine detail and legend that Leica promotes.
Okay, I have to say this is rubbish –
“The field reports from Magnum photographers will make a significant contribution to the comprehensive user requirements analyses already performed by Leica, assisting in the mutual aim of developing the Leica product portfolio to ensure that products continue to meet the needs of photographers around the world.”
Leica has had it’s ‘ears batted’ for decades about what users (photographers) want and they still don’t listen – oh, they finally gave us a digital M – now they are using ‘real photographers’ from Magnum to tell them how to make a better camera?
That’s a bunch of crap – I’m sorry – but really. What about the S2? THE answer in medium format digital (according to them) for those who have ‘astro-dollars’ to spend. Whose idea was that one? I wonder how many magnum photographers will be asking for a 35mm format DSLR? I wonder if Leica will build it or will they listen only to themselves – again? Sorry – it’s all marketing, ‘Look everyone! Magnum says we should do this!’ Okay.
That “high-quality wall calendar” isn’t something I will be hanging on my wall.
Some of the images indeed look like they have been shot with a cheap film camera by someone who has no knowledge of photography. It is often said that it is not the camera but the photographer and that a professional can produce quality images no matter the equipment. Some images in that calendar refute this notion – sometimes even a professional can’t produce quality despite having high-end equipment.