Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/08/23
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Larry, there's a lot of that going on in the world today. If you buy a Mazda truck, it will probably be built by Ford in Mexico with a German engine, and maybe a French Tranny. If you buy an Isuzu pickup truck, rest assured it was made by some us rednecks in Louisiana. Leica has been having P&S cameras made by Japanese companies (mostly Panasonic) for some years, and elements of the R cameras and some lenses were made in Japan by various manufacturers. I guess there's no answer your question of to what extent does Solms have to be involved to call it a Leica is purely hypothetical. There are some who say if it wasn't made in Wetzlar it is not a true Leica, but they would be discounting lots of nice Canadian made equipment. If we follow your line, some Noctiluxes were made by General Motors, because for a while they were the owners of the Midland plant where the light-sucker was made. 'tis a hard question with probably no answer, but I do consider my Lika Leica, Leica quality Sonny (who lived in Wetzlar, visited Solms, but has no actual Leica-made parts in his construction.) http://www.sonc.com - ----- Original Message ----- From: <LRZeitlin@aol.com> To: <leica-users-digest@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us> Sent: Saturday, August 23, 2003 8:01 AM Subject: [Leica] Digilux? > Question: > > I know of at least four different cameras, made by two manufacturers, bearing > the name Leica Digilux. One series, the Fuji made Digiluxes, were simply the > cosmetically altered Fuji Finepix 1700, 1700 Zoom, and 4800 cameras. The other > is the Panasonic DC5 variation. With the Fuji cameras, Leica didn't even > claim responsibility for the lens. All they contributed was an expensive brochure > and the red Leica dot. Even the manual was printed in Japan. Leica claims to > have a hand in designing the Panasonic version but their touch seems very light > indeed. > > How much of an influence does Leica have to have in the design of a camera to > be truly regarded as a Leica? Does it make the lens? Does it make the body? > Does it simply lease the rights to the name? If the red dot falls off my (Fuji) > Leica Digilux Zoom, is it still a Leica? > > This is a question worthy of Philosophy 101. You know, like the famous broken > knife problem. If a knife blade breaks and you replace the blade, then the > handle breaks and you replace the handle, is it the same knife? > > Larry Z > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html