Mike Amos from photobasecamp.com attended the LHSA meetings in Wetzlar last year and contacted me regarding some very interesting hints about upcoming Leica products:
Leica M
“The M is all about the heritage of the camera, and all future decisions, I believe, will be based more on what we saw with the M10 product update. When all other companies try to stuff their cameras with all the bells and whistles, the M will remain true, and return more towards its history.”
Leica M with electronic/hybrid viewfinder
“Jesko, the product manager for the M suggested that, of course, the electronic viewfinder is a nice addition for the M camera, however, they always see the rangefinder as the number one focusing system for the M. They mentioned Leica did build a prototype hybrid built in EVF M, but they put priority on the camera body design, as it made it too thick.
However, Stefan Daniel added to this, emphasizing there will always be a rangefinder version. However, they are looking at opportunities to have a second model with a built in EVF. They will never swap the rangefinder to EVF, but a second version alongside the rangefinder is very possible in the future.”
Leica M 35mm Noctilux lens
“In regards to lens roadmap, it was made very clear by Stefan Daniel that the focus was the L mount lenses for the near future. However, they were having meetings the afternoon I was there about future lenses, and knew (to my excitement) that a 35mm Noctilux was a much wished for addition. Stephan Schulz added that he thinks its a lens everyone would like to see, and know the 35mm is one of the more popular focal lengths in the M system, so they expected to have more discussions! Peter Karbe shrugged, but had a twinkle in his eye… so my feeling is this will be a lens that I’ll be seeing soon in my future!”
Leica SL2
“As for the upcoming SL2 – a number of interviews recently have alluded to this upcoming product, including a more elegant and less boxy design. But it was also mentioned whilst I was at Leica that the upcoming camera would be significantly improved in the speed and accuracy of autofocus. It was also discussed how much resolving power the new L lenses the Peter’s team has designed, so a sensor with more megapixels would make sense to realize this resolution.”
Customer Service
“Leica is testing a few new initiatives in Germany with the plan of rolling them out in key markets. This includes a finance program, a professional loan and service system and improvements in camera repairs and servicing, especially in North America.”
Read the full article here and check out also the beautiful pictures of the Leica campus.
Some personal notes:
- I remember there were some rumors in the past about a new Leica M camera with EVF.
- I have been reporting rumors about a new Leica M 35mm Noctilux lens for a while (the new Zenitar 35mm f/1.0 M lens is not considered a Noctilux).
