Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/11/28
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]on 28/11/00 8:06 AM, Jim Brick at jim_brick@agilent.com wrote: > At 05:36 PM 11/27/00 -0500, Maciver2@aol.com wrote: >> Jim Brick tells us that the Minilux is "not a really a Leica. It is a >> rebadged Japanese camera." >> >> Of course, as it's not made in Portugal like the M6, how can it be a "Leica"? > > What Jim Brick meant is that it is a camera designed and manufactured by > Panasonic or some other company. The inner workings of if the flash uses > quench or f/stop to control it's exposure would probably not be known by > Leica technicians in NJ or Solms. This is just an educated guess. Someone > there may know. > > Also, my original reply was with the plastic mini(whatever) introduced > before the minizoom, in mind. Then I realized that you are probably talking > about the Titanium camera, which, I believe, is still a Japanese designed > and built camera. > > But I could be wrong... > > Jim > As the distributor/sole agent for Panasonic products for Hong Kong and China markets, let me offer what I know: The Leica Minilux was a joint effort by Leica, Nikon, Hoya and Matsushita (Panasonic/National/Technics). The camera and optics are a Leica design with the electronics designed by Nikon. Hoya supplied the lens elements and Matsushita provided the engineering and manufacturing. Unlike the Leica Digilux digital cameras and the new C11 APS cameras, the Minilux is not a re-badged Japanese camera. It is Japanese as far as the engineering and manufacturing are concerned but it is not a re-badged camera, as there isn't another camera identical to the Minilux but marketed under a different brand. The Digilux and C11 are simply re-badged Fuji cameras, however. Joseph