[Leica] Leica use and Anniversary trip to Europe.

["Paul T. Collura" <pcollura@epix.net>]

Dear Luggers:

I just got back from a three week 25th Anniversary trip to Europe and
wish to inform you of a  few  interesting facts mostly on topic and
about Leica.  First,  I took two M6 bodies, 35mm and 50mm Summicron
lenses and a 75mm f1.4 Summilux.  I left the 28 and 90mm lenses home and
I don't think I regretted that decision.  Serious photography and an
anniversary trip don't mix and I had to back off photo related activity
too often to appease my wife.  I used the two Summicrons 99% of the
time.   Shot about 40 rolls of film which I have not gotten back yet.
The film was pretty much divided between Sensia slide film and Kodak PRN
print film.  I always had one M6 hanging around my neck with the other
readily available in my Alice bag.  As Jim Brick has stated, my Leicas
attracted no attention in Rome, Florence, Siena, Venice, Bavaria and
Paris.  In the whole trip I only saw two other M6s both carried by
Americans and one French woman with an R8.

I could not make it to Photokina, but I did visit the Leica factory in
Solms.  A "retired" Leica executive, Herr Karlhans Welcher was the
guide. One other couple from England was on the morning tour.  Current
Leica production is pretty much 50-50 between the M and R systems due to
a renaissance of the M system. Karlhans stated that the R system had
previous accounted for 65% of production.  Leica glass is mostly
supplied by Corning France, with Shott and others also used.  The Leica
glass research facility was dropped when it became too expensive to
maintain and was superseded by other glass manufacturers research and
production abilities.

If memory serves me correctly Leica lenses are ground to a tolerance of
1/10,000 of a micron far exceeding the tolerances of any other camera
manufacturer.  Leica lens coatings are state of the art and Karlhans
stated there is NO NEED for any UV or skylight filter.  Karlhans berated
the use of UV filters as unnecessary and interfering with the design of
the Lens!!!

The possibility of an M7 was mentioned as a probability although the
features were not elucidated.

The vast majority of the thousands of tourists that I saw were holding
Point and Shoot cameras.  I saw very few  Pro or serious amateur Nikon
or Canon SLR cameras.  I guess we have entered a program mode world!

Paul