Interview with Stefan Daniel and Alfred Schopf from Leica
Amateur Photographer published a series of interviews with Stefan Daniel (product manager at Leica) and Alfred Schopf (Leica’s CEO). Here are the main pionts from the interviews:
- Leica received “very nice” amount of orders for the Leica T
- They chose APS-C sensor for the Leica T in order to keep the size of the camera and lenses small
- The Leica T sensor is made by Sony
- The Leica T is hand polished in Portugal
- Leica will not reveal the name of the manufacturer that makes Leica T lenses in Japan and apparently it is not Panasonic (I already reported rumors that the new T lenses could be produced by Sigma)
- In the future Leica T lenses could be produced in Germany as well
- The new plant in Wetzlar will provide at least a 50% increase in productivity
- Leica’s revenue doubled in the three years after 2009
- Leica produces around 1000 film cameras per year, 60% of them are sold in Japan
- On a potential full frame Leica T based camera, Leica’s CEO answered:
“Let’s wait and see… Whatever I say can be misinterpreted. Might Leica show up with a full-format camera at some point, with an autofocus? Yes. Don’t ask me about the design.”
FYI: the Leica T should start shipping in the US by the end of the week (see pre-order options).