New 35mm Summilux to be announced early next week

By LR admin | Published: May 12, 2010

The new 35mm Summilux lens should be announced next week. The exact announcement date I have for Europe is May 17th, but this could differ depending on your time zone. The retail price is going to be €3,750 or $5,000 (US). I already mentioned the expected stores availability: July, 2010.

Posted in Leica Lenses, Leica M | Tagged | 3 Comments

Don’t sell your Leica R lenses yet

By LR admin | Published: May 11, 2010

I would suggest that you wait till Photokina (September, 2010) before you sell your Leica R lenses.

Leica R lenses prices went down in price on eBay in the past 12 months but I think this will change very soon.

As I already mentioned before, Leica did promise a R solution on a digital body and I suspect that this solution will have something to do with the rumored Leica EVIL camera. Another flashback: Stefan Daniel said in one of the old video interviews that going the DSLR route for Leica “is like jumping in a pool full of sharks” (the S2 is a DSLR but in a different category). The only way to provide an R solution without going the DSLR route is to go mirrorless (EVIL=Electronic Viewfinder, Interchangeable Lens). I also think that Leica will produce few new lenses, specifically designed for that new EVIL camera/system.

Posted in Leica R, Leica T | 16 Comments

Leica photo scavenger hunt in New York

By LR admin | Published: May 11, 2010
WHO: Leica Camera Inc. has partnered with the New York Photo Festival to offer photography enthusiasts the opportunity to experience firsthand a Leica M9 professional-grade camera. Attendees are encouraged to seek out their inner artist and experiment with the most advanced camera technology available today.
WHAT: Photo enthusiasts may borrow the coveted Leica M9 digital rangefinder camera absolutely free for a period of up to four hours.

Each day there will be a set theme, challenging participants to capture the best photo that embodies that particular topic.

Winners will receive a special Leica prize at the end of each day.

A credit card and ID must be provided in exchange for the borrowed camera. Participants are asked to bring their own SD memory cards.

For over 75 years, Leica Camera stands supreme among the world’s leading camera manufacturers for its unwavering commitment to pure form, functional perfection and unsurpassed level of optical and mechanical excellence.

The Leica M camera series is renowned by photographers all over the world for being the fastest and most precise camera available to date. The M9 is the world’s first and only digital rangefinder camera.
WHEN: Thursday, May 13 – Sunday, May 16

12:00-7:00pm (Thurs-Sat), 12:00-5:00pm (Sun)
WHERE: New York Photo Festival Headquarters

Powerhouse Books

37 Main Street

Brooklyn, New York 11201
LINKS: www.leica-camera.com

www.nyphotofestival.com
Posted in Leica Press Releases | Leave a Comment

New Leica Summilux-M 35mm lens is stores this July

By LR admin | Published: May 11, 2010

The new Summilux-M 35mm lens will be available in stores this July – this was confirmed by a Leica sales rep today according to Smarkstracks.com:

New 35 Lux on a M9

“Until today however none of my Leica dealers could confirm the delivery date of the redesigned 35mm Summilux. But today a Leica Sales rep confirmed delivery of the new 35mm lens in July this year. According to the Leica sales rep, this lens has very high pre-orders in the backlog, so it will be hard to get one right at launch.”

The official announcement should happen in the next few days.

Posted in Leica Lenses | Tagged | 1 Comment

Leica Summarit-S 35mm f/2.5 ASPH lens for S2 released

By LR admin | Published: May 11, 2010

Dpreview “released” the Leica Summarit-S 35mm f/2.5 ASPH lens for the Leica S2 camera in the UK – it will be available from May 2010 with a price tag of £3,780.

This lens is not yet available in the US (you can blame the Eyjafjallajökull volcano as David Farkas noted in his latest blog post).

Adorama is taking Leica Summarit-S 35mm pre-orders (price:  $5,295.00).

MTF charts and specs are available here.

Posted in Leica Lenses, Leica S | 2 Comments

What changed in the new Leica 35mm Summilux lens

By LR admin | Published: May 9, 2010

  • The new lens will have a rectangular, full-metal screw lens hood like the one for the Elmar 24.
  • The new version will be 10 grams heavier.
  • Everything else should remain the same as the old model.
  • I forgot – the new price will be € 3750,-
Posted in Leica Lenses | Tagged | 11 Comments

Breaking news: the new Leica 35 Summilux f/1.4 is here!

By LR admin | Published: May 8, 2010

Update: the “what’s new” entry was removed from Leica US website.

The new 35 Lux on Leica’s official site – there is a small entry on the new 35 Lux lens in the “What’s New” section on Leica US website. From there the link goes to the PDF document download section which still lists the old version. After the dcviews leak and all previous rumors, I say the official announcement should follow next week, maybe as early as Monday.

Here is a screenshot of the page (click for larger view) – as you can see the image is identical to the lens from the previous leak:

Posted in Leica Lenses | Tagged | 4 Comments

Dcviews.com thinks the new Leica 35mm Summilux-M was released today

By LR admin | Published: May 8, 2010

Dcviews has this article on their main page with today’s date (May 8th, 2010):

The shown picture is of  the current 35 Lux model (see images of the rumored new 35 Lux lens here – it has 15 feet and 7 meters marks, the old model has 30 feet and 10 meters marks).

Dcviews has been around for a while and based on my experience are well informed. Maybe the announcement will be next week and they published the article online ahead of time with the wrong images?

Posted in Leica Lenses, Leica M | Tagged | 2 Comments