What to expect from Leica at Photokina 2010 (*updated*)

Photokina is the biggest photography equipment show in the world and it takes place every two years in Cologne, Germany. For Leica Camera AG, this is their “home turf” – Solms is 150km/100miles away from Cologne. As Rudi Spiller mentioned on the last financial report, Leica has used Photokina to make some major announcements in the past: in 2008 for example, they announced 9 different products:

• Leica C-Lux 3
• Leica Dlux 4
• Leica M8.2
• Leica S2
• Leica Noctilux 50 mm f/0.95 ASPH
• Leica Summilux 21 mm f/1.4 ASPH
• Leica Summilux 24 mm f/1.4 ASPH
• Leica Elmar 24 mm f/3.8 ASPH
• and the digital projector Leica Pradovit D-1200

Here are the current speculations/rumors/expectations on what Leica will announce at Photokina 2010 (of course some of the listed products may get announced at a later date, others may be completely wrong):

• Leica D-Lux 5: this is a given, considering previous release patterns and the fact that Panasonic already announced their LX5 version. I do not expect another point and shoot camera from Leica, since the V-Lux 20 was released just few months ago.

• Update: Leica V-Lux 2 – it will be based on the Panasonic Lumix FZ100.

• Leica M9 update (maybe M9.2): similar to the M8.2 update, the M9.2 will probably offer sapphire glass and few other minor improvements. Update: the M9 update could actually be a titanium limited edition.

• New Leica R-solution: I believe this will be the big announcement from Leica this year. They have already promised a R-lenses solution. The only rumor I have received, pointed to some kind of a Leica EVIL camera that will be released with a new set of lenses, but will work also with old R glass.

• Leica X1: the rumor is that Leica is working on a X model with a zoom, but I doubt it will be announced this year during Photokina  (the X line is on probably on a 2 years refresh schedule). We may however see a black version of the Leica X1.

• Leica S2: if the rumors are true, an updated Leica S2.2 is expected (no idea what could be included in this update ).

• Some new M lenses: here the speculation can go wild, basically everything is possible.