6 thoughts on “What “Hand Built German Craftsmanship” Means in the Digital Age

  1. David H.

    Somehow this reminds of the old line, “Never watch sausage being made.” Well, I have seen and actually made sausage and it did not bother me. This, however does. I should not say this, but it is reminesent of the transistor radios I liked to take apart as a kid.

  2. ivan

    I second David’s comment. I have seen similar videos from Leica, where they go into far too obsessive detail over the “creation” of the camera. Those were actually interesting. They had a sense of people bridging the generational and technological gaps. “Imagine, marrying an optical viewfinder from the mid-century to a modern day digital camera!”

    This one, however, really had everything working against it. It seemed like watching IT techs defrag hard drives. Instead of personality, charm, or mystique, we get a dry shot of a cart, presumably loaded with sensors and circuit boards. The workers are shown simply cleaning and re-cleaning sensors, wiping down smudges on the glass or back LCD panel, applying camera leather….in other words, the things I had to do in my kitchen in order to be able to keep my M-E clean and shooting without sensor dust at F4.5 or greater…

    Not a good video – really demystified the idea of their M10. Usually, when Leica misses in their marketing, it’s because there’s a language barrier. This one had no words, no soul, and no real purpose, sorry to say.

  3. Ross

    Antiseptics redefined, it seems… The underlying problem is, of course, that only a small number of all the components that make up a digital Leica is actually “made in Germany”. The overwhelming majority originates from secondary suppliers. I’m guessing Japan, China, the US, among others. Quite possibly exposing Leica to consistency issues in the long term. Contrast this with the mighty German automotive industry, where almost all of the secondary suppliers are German.
    No worries though … even certain ‘Swiss’ watch companies order their steel cases from China…

    1. Rob Campbell

      That’s an entertaining thought!

      However, I did quite enjoy the little film. It was delightfully high key, had no unnecessary chat to distract and sell, and the lighting on the cameras towards the end was beautiful; quite made me lust after something I can’t afford. Last time I felt like that was looking at a Riva in the local marina. So now two desires can play together, even if they are not total strangers, one to the other.

      Rob

  4. ScottP

    I would like a case of those little foam brooms, but I imagine they cost a hundred dollars apiece and the workers use them once and throw them away.

    Anyway, I’m here because I ran across the following page:

    http://www.angelfire.com/biz/Leica/factory.html

    It has pictures of the Leitz Wetzlar factory in the 1950s. It’s not at all the same.

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