Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/08/01
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]<<From: Erwin Puts <imxputs@knoware.nl> <<Subject: [Leica] A most daring proposition. <<Walking in Wetzlar always challenges the historical mind and recently I stumbled across a new small book, titled "Die Leitz Werke in Wetzlar", a picture history of Leitz from the beginnings till 1988, the year that Solms took over. This booklet gives some support to my own view that the current Leica products in the Solms incarnation, are not a continuation of the Leitz tradition, but completely new products. The very special way of manufacturing and design used by the "Leitzianer" (Leitz workers) and the unique family spirit of Leitz is of course incorporated, spiritually and materially in the cameras leaving the Wetzlar Werke. In 1972 the Leitz family gradually withdrew from the company and by 1974 the Wild-Heerbrugg Company owned the majority of shares. Per the first of january 1988 the Solms factory adopted the Leica product family>> This proposition is definitely worth examining. We should try to examine the evidence for this, maybe even interviewing some of the "Leitzianer," retired or even current workers if they are not under NDA. (Non Disclosure Agreement). And also look for evidence in product design and other characteristics of the finished product. <<The Leitz factory as an institution and as a company paled after 1972 and vanished completely after 1974. Even if the new company (Wild) continued to produce the same products, they are not to be considered as true Leitz products.>> What are the characteristics of these Leitz products sold between 1974-1988? Maybe we should look at it product by product. <<Even more so: the Solms factory created completely new products, even if the outward appearance is almost identical. Why: in the Leitz days almost every component was made in-house, every screw and washer and gear was produced in the Wetzlar buildings. The Solms factory uses a very different production philosophy and also has a different assembly technique. As I have explained quite often: the Solms way of doing things is better than the Wetzlar way., disregarding nostalgia and collector feelings.>> Erwin (and/or anyone else who knows}, can you elaborate further on the Solms design philosophy? And what can we expect in the electronic camera field from Solms, a multi-megapixel camera with an M-lens mount? <<So the current M6 body may have many parts which can be exchanged with the M4 types of Wetzlar origin, they are different products. The first 2000 M6 bodies have been built in Canada, which does indicate that the M6 is not a Wetzlar product, even when subsequent series have been built in the Wetzlar building.>> And how are Canadian-built Leitz products different than Leitz products built elsewhere? Is the Canadian facility just an assembly point for components "Made in Germany" or does it design and build some products from its own research and development? <<An industrial product cannot be isolated from its design and production technology, it does embody in its character its creation. Warning: this is a proposition, not a statement of fact. Erwin>> I agree with this proposition and think this is fertile ground for both research and discussion. Steve Caspersen Sunnyvale CA