Leica Camera AG pays dividend for the first time since 1997

Leica Camera AG, Solms, finished the 2010/2011 financial year (1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011) with record sales. With total sales of €248.8 m, the Hessian company with a long tradition of manufacturing cameras and sport optics products increased its sales by 57.2% compared to the previous year (€158.2 m). The company’s earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) were almost six times higher. They rose from €7.4 m in the previous financial year to €41.5 m. The group profit was also higher than expected at €36.3 m, more than 11 times higher than the previous year (€3.2 m). At the company’s AGM on 12 August 2011, the board and supervisory board will propose that the shareholders distribute a dividend of €0.30 per share as a result of the positive balance. This would be the company’s first dividend payment since 1997.

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Oskar Barnack Award 2011: the winners

This is the slideshow, which has been presented at the Arles Photo festival of 2011. It shows the work of the Oskar Barnack Award laureates in full length:

Oskar Barnack Award 2011: the winners from leica camera on Vimeo.

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Leica M9 will stay in production alongside the new M9-P

Several readers asked me if the Leica M9 will stay in production after the announcement of the M9-P. I contacted Leica Camera USA and they confirmed that both M9 and M9-P will stay in production.

Leica M9-P is expected to start shipping in late July 20111 in the US (already shipping in Europe in limited quantities). The price difference between the M9 and M9-P is $1000.

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London Street Photography Student Awards Exhibition opens today

The Student Awards Exhibition from the London Street Photography Festival is now open. Visit londonstreetphotographyfestival.org for more details.

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LFI Special Edition Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2011

LFI magazine announced a special issue dedicated to the 2011 Leica Oskar Barnack Award:

“The special Leica Oskar Barnack Award magazine will appear at the beginning of July. With 84 pages, it presents comprehensive portfolios of the winner of the 2011 Oskar Barnack Award and the 2011 Newcomer Award, as well as all the finalists. A high quality publication with detailed texts and interviews, LFI unveils an exciting kaleidoscope of excellent contemporary photography.”

The price of the issue is 9.90 EUR. It is not clear if this edition will be included in the regular LFI subscription.

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Leica Camera AG and FCDA announce cooperation

Solms, Germany (July 6, 2011) – Leica Camera AG announces a multi-faceted collaboration with Facing Change: Documenting America (FCDA), a non-profit collective of prominent photographers and writers who have come together to explore the United States during one of the most enduring times in the nation’s history. Sharing a commitment to supporting independent documentary photography, Leica and FCDA will present a number of photographic projects to be featured online on at www.leica-camera.com and www.facingchange.org, as well as in LFI Magazine, books and travelling exhibitions beginning in July 2011.

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Digitalizing an old Leica camera

After this “digital” Leica II, here is another modification of an old 1938 Leica camera retrofitted with the guts of a Lumix FX70 14MP camera:

Here is another video of a modified Leica film camera:

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