“Hemingway Leica” and a Black Leica MP-31 in the next Tamarkin Camera Auction

By LR admin | Published: September 6, 2011

More than 250 Leica, Rollei, Nikon rangefinder, and other unusual photographic items will be sold to camera collectors around the world in the Tamarkin’s October auction.

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Posted in Other Leica Stuff | 9 Comments

Rare Leica underwater housing for M4 rangefinder

By LR admin | Published: September 5, 2011

 

I came across this rare 1970 original underwater housing for Leica M4 on eBay. After 3 bids the price is at $15,200.00 and the reserve is still not met. There is not much information available online for this housing except this PDF file (in Italian). Few years ago, there was an underwater housing for Leica M8, but I have not seen any other models since.

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Posted in Leica Auction Madness | Tagged | 2 Comments

Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f/1.2 II lens now available for pre-order

By LR admin | Published: September 2, 2011

Adorama is now taking pre-orders for the Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f/1.2 II lens that was announced back in February.

Posted in Leica Lenses | Tagged | 16 Comments

The first Leica Hall of Fame Award goes to Steve McCurry

By LR admin | Published: September 2, 2011

Steve McCurry: A Retrospective from leica camera on Vimeo.

Steve McCurry is the recipient of the 2011 Leica Hall of Fame award.

The prize is awarded to photographers who have rendered outstanding service to the Leica brand and to the genre of photography.

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Posted in Other Leica Stuff | 26 Comments

Top 10 posts for August 2011

By LR admin | Published: September 1, 2011

Those are the top 10 most visited LeicaRumors posts for August 2011:

  1. Free ebook about street photography
  2. The Leica wedding
  3. Leica’s new compact mirrorless system camera: priced between the X1 and M9, compatible with M-mount lenses
  4. Some interesting thoughts on the Leica M10 (29MP sensor, hybrid viewfinder, live view, video recording, MAESTRO processor?)
  5. Leica M “pistol holder”.
  6. Leica Summilux-C cinema lenses now shipping.
  7. Second free book about street photography.
  8. Official statement by Leica Camera AG on the M9 / SD Card compatibility.
  9. Noktor HyperPrime 50mm f/0.95 lens with Leica M mount currently in testing.
  10. DNG to NEF file converter
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Some interesting thoughts on the Leica M10 (29MP sensor, hybrid viewfinder, live view, video recording, MAESTRO processor?)

By LR admin | Published: August 29, 2011

Kodak's KAI-29050 29MP sensor

After my yesterday’s post about the rumor that Leica M10 will have live view capabilities, I got some interesting comments from readers about the possibilities of adding new technologies in the next M camera. Here is John’s comment:

It’s quite possible that the next digital  Leica M (M10?) will include “live view”.  IMHO, the hint can be found in the latest top of the line CCD from Kodak: the KAI-29050.  This new 24x36mm 29 megapixel (!) sensor is an “interline transfer” sensor (i.e. not the traditional “full frame” technology used by Leica so far).  A product summary pdf file has recently been added.  See the bottom of the page: http://www.kodak.com/ek/US/en/Image_Sensor_Solutions/Products/Interline_CCD.htm (direct link to the PDF file of the Kodak KAI-29050 sensor).

While I agree that the “video” factor might not be that appealing to most Leica M users (myself included), I believe that there is another key advantage to using this new (to Leica) interline transfer technology: by using the KAI-29050’s built-in electronic shutter (which does not exist in a “full-frame” sensor), Leica would be able to carry out essential calculations to achieve vastly improved (more accurate) exposure and white balance, milliseconds before the actual exposure.

In such case, the use of the Leica S2’s MAESTRO “ASIC” chip would be of considerable help to do the number crinching. There’s another rumor for you: the Leica M10 will use the MAESTRO chip!  😉

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Posted in Leica M | 64 Comments

Second free book about street photography

By LR admin | Published: August 29, 2011

Thomas Leuthard (85mm.ch) just published a second free book about street photography called Collecting Souls… What Street Photography means to me. Both books can be downloaded here as a PDF document.

Posted in Other Leica Stuff | Tagged | 17 Comments

The latest Leica rumors

By LR admin | Published: August 28, 2011

Those are the latest Leica related rumors I have been receiving:

  • I already mentioned that the next lens to be announced by Leica will be a new 50mm f/2.0 Summicron-M ASPH. A l-camera-forum member recently discovered a new lens code in the latest M9 firmware that is probably designated for the new 50mm Cron:

“Since I had already coded the lens as code 53, I tried the other frame lines. Guess what, code 53-3 (110101 with frame 50/75) brings up a new lens called 50/2. The current 50 summicron (VI and V) and previous version (III) already have codes 33 and 23. So, is this new 53-3 code for an upcoming, new 50 summicron which has been speculated about?”

  • Leica M10 will have live view, announcement at Photokina 2012.
  • Possible Leica lens price increase at the end of 2011. No surprise here since Leica has been raising prices in the last few years. The 50mm Summilux is one of the lenses that will probably get a price increase (current US price: $3695).
Posted in Leica Lenses, Leica M | Tagged | 23 Comments