|
|
|
| Digital
Photography & Macintosh Computers |
dpmac.com
- contact george@dpmac.com
with your digital
photo & mac related news
|
 LEICA Digital Cameras
Digital
Module R
Digilux 2
D-Lux
2
D-Lux
Leica
Digital Forum
|
Leica Newsletter 01/25/06:
30 Years of the Leica
Gallery; Photo Competitions; LF1/2006
|
December 25, 2005
LEICA
M Series Digital in the works according to LFI
 LEICA FOTOGRAFIE
INTERNATIONAL the official Leica
magazine has announced that "The Digital M will be introduced as a
complete package that will include new wide-angle lenses".
I have not seen the complete article yet, which is entitled "Leica Will
Face The Digital Age" and can be found in the January 2006 issue, but
the accompanying photograph and the text below comes from that article.
Stefan Daniel is the chief of product management at Leica Camera AG.
"... LFI: Which are the concrete projects? Will Leica be entering new
technological areas?
Stefan Daniel: It is a fact that we will continue to advance our
product lines: the M system, R system, digital compact cameras and
sports optics. ...
LFI: Advancing the M and R systems means, most of all advancing them
digitally, right?
Gero Furchheim: Right! We will be complimenting and expanding these
systems with digital components, so that they remain attractive for our
customers. At the same time, no one speaks of reducing or discontinuing
the M and R analogue segment. Yet, the innovations will clearly focus
on...
"
Current digital offerings from Leica are the Digital Module R (digital
back) for the R8 and R9 Leica SLRs, the Digilux 2 (5 MP EVF), D-Lux 2
(8.6 MP Compact), and the
D-Lux (3.2 MP Sub-compact). Leica cameras can of course not be judged
purely by the numbers. Anyone who has ever used a Leica camera, even
for just a short time, has a hard time changing back to any of the
other cameras that are used by mere mortals. Leica, Hasselblad, Rollei,
and the now extinct Contax are the Porshes, Maseratis and Ferraries of
the photography world.
As the saying goes if you need to ask how much the M Series Digital
will cost, you more than likely will not be able to afford one. The
following story on the Titanium Leica M7 Auction, should give you some
indication of the cost of a high-end Leica. And just in case you are in
a generous mood, my birthday falls in June, any old Leica will do but I
would sure love a Digital M. http://leica-camera.com
|
December 25, 2005
All-titanium LEICA M7
auctioned for 90,000 euros - a world record for
modern cameras
Photographer
Sebastião Salgado to use proceeds to plant trees in Brazilian
rainforest
Photographer
Sebastião Salgado has raised the money for 120,000 trees
to preserve the Brazilian rainforest with the auction proceeds of one
single camera. The all-titanium Leica model fetched 90,000 euros, a new
world record for cameras built after 1945. The highest bid at the
camera auction of the Viennese photography scene 'Westlicht' was made
by a collector from Thailand by phone. The LEICA M7 with the special
serial no. 3,000,000 was awarded to Salgado by Leica Camera AG, Solms
in honor of his extensive and extremely human photographic work.
Particularly
with his large-scale cycles 'Workers' and 'Migration', Salgado made
important contributions to the discussion of topics that affect the
whole of mankind. As a documentary photographer of human fates in times
of poverty, suppression and war, for example, the Brazilian has
captured not only fear and sorrow but also moments full of hope, pride,
incredible energy and enormous will to survive. Sebastião
Salgado has
already won the prestigious Leica Oskar Barnack Award twice for his
photographic work.
The Leica Gallery in
Vienna is staging a
tie-in photo exhibition of children's portraits from Sebastião
Salgado's 'Migration’ project until February 5th, 2006. Details of the
auction and the photo exhibition can be found on the Internet at
www.westlicht.com.
The distinction of famous
photographers,
scientists and statesmen has a long tradition at Leica: The camera and
optics manufacturer has been awarding cameras with special serial
numbers at irregular intervals ever since 1925. For example, the
25,000th Leica was given to the Swedish Asia explorer Sven Hedin in
1929, the 750,000th Leica to the photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson in
1955, the 800,000th to the first German Bundeskanzler Dr. Konrad
Adenauer in 1956 and the 2,500,000th to Czech president Václav
Havel in
2000.
The LEICA M7 with the
serial no. 3,000,000 comes from a
special series of the company to mark the 50th anniversary of the Leica
rangefinder system in the year 2004. It is made of solid titanium.
Limited to a quantity of 50 cameras engraved with the years from 1954
to 2004, the special series has three lenses and was sold for a price
of 20,000 euros.
For collectors of
particularly exclusive items,
the Solms company is also offering the anniversary set of the titanium
LEICA M7 together with just one lens - the high-speed universal LEICA
SUMMILUX-M f/1.4/50mm ASPH. . The titanium cameras in the set also bear
the anniversary engraving and have a special serial no. from 3,000,050
to 3,000,550. The exclusive set combines the tradition of a proven
photographic tool - the Leica M camera - with the modernity of the
high-tech material titanium and state-of-the-art lens design. The
homogeneous silver-gray titanium finish gives the camera and lens an
unmistakably exclusive look, making the anniversary edition an elegant
collectors' item. http://leica-camera.com |
October
14, 2005
Leica at Photo Plus Expo
Leica will be presenting their newest camera the D-LUX 2, the much
anticipated Digital Modul-R back for their flagship R8 and R9 SLR
cameras, and the Leica MP 3 LHSA Special Edition.
Leica Digital-Modul-R
The LEICA DIGITAL-MODUL-R is a digital camera back designed to fit
regular production LEICA R8 and R9 cameras. LEICA R8 and R9 cameras
will thus become the world’s very first hybrid 35 mm cameras that can
be used for digital or analog photography. The LEICA DIGITAL-MODUL-R
combines tradition and progress in a unique way. Nearly all high
performance lenses in the LEICA R system since 1965 can be used for
digital and analogue image recording. The LEICA DIGITAL-MODULE-R makes
full use of their exceptionally high imaging performance.
 Leica D-LUX 2
The latest pocket sized digital camera from Leica has a Leica DC
Vario-Elmarit
6.3-25.2 mm f/2.8-4.9 Asph. lens with a 4x zoom that has a (35 mm
equivalent) range of 28 to 112 mm. There is no optical viewfinder but
the camera has a very large 2.5-inch LCD that displays 207,000 pixels.
Camera resolution is 8.4 megapixels and the camera settings are
controlled either by 14
different scene modes, or through completely manual aperture and
shutter
speeds. There is even an adapter available for attaching the camera to
a spotting scope for nature photography.
The Leica D-Lux 2 makes an ideal digital camera, both for discerning
amateurs
and professionals who would like to have a high quality pocket sized
camera with them at all times. http://leica-camera.com
|
October
18, 2005
Leica names Pinat Ozger as the Winner of the
1st Jim Marshall Scholarship
Allendale, N.J. –
October 2005 - It took two legends to create this unique contest--
Leica Camera,
and Jim Marshall, a photographic legend and inveterate Leica shooter.
Its aim
is simple but profound: To encourage talented young photographers and
to
provide them with the best possible equipment to express their vision—a
Leica M7 camera and Leica 35mm f/2 Summicron ASPH lens valued at
$5,000. In
addition, the award includes a $2,500 cash prize.
After poring over the 275 portfolios entered for more than 6
hours, the 5 judges, including Jim Marshall himself, selected the 2005
contest
winner--Pinar Ozger of Berkeley, California, who is studying at
the Academy of Art University. The judges were moved by her
compassionate and
revealing images of the harsh life in the Kackar
Mountains of Turkey.
We congratulate her on her outstanding achievement, and
trust that both the camera and the award will help her further her
photographic
education and put her on the road to a successful and fulfilling
career.
About Jim Marshall
Jim
Marshall has worked in the music genre for most of his career,
providing
editorial coverage for magazines, and shooting everything from
publicity and
documentary photographs to album and CD covers. He was one of the chief
photographers at both Woodstock
’69 and the Monterey Pop Festival. He was also the only photographer
granted backstage access at the Beatles’ last concert, and was also the
only person ever to succeed in squeezing Janis Joplin and Grace Slick
into a
single memorable frame.
About Leica Camera Inc.
Leica creates cameras and optical
photographic accessories that empower the artist in every
photographer.
The company creates instruments that provide photographers with the
tools they
need, as well as inspire their artistic spirit within. Leica is
dedicated
to developing the finest in cameras and optical photographic
instruments.
For the entire history of the company, a tradition of precision
manufacturing
and technological innovations has steadily positioned the brand at the
forefront of the photographic industry and has enabled it to establish
an
unsurpassed standard of excellence. Leica Camera USA,
headquartered in Allendale, N.J.,
distributes a complete line of Rangefinder & SLR cameras and
lenses,
compact and digital cameras and sport optic products. For more
information, please visit the web site at www.leicacamerausa.com.
|
October
18, 2005
Leica creates a Special Limited Edition Ralph
Gibson Signature Leica MP
Allendale,
N.J.- Leica Camera is
pleased to announce Ralph Gibson’s collaboration with Leica on the
Ralph Gibson Signature Leica MP. This
special edition camera has been custom crafted to Ralph’s personal
specifications. This MP will be offered in a limited edition of 50
pieces worldwide.
Ralph Gibson, being
perhaps the quintessential Leica photographer of our time, has been an
internationally acclaimed photographer and teacher for nearly 40 years.
His
photographic goal has always been, “to move further
and further into the medium, shedding light on
the essential
nature of the photographic process itself,” says Gibson.
Gibson configured his
personal Leica MP with only the 35, 50 and 90 mm
frame lines, visible one at a time and without a preview lever,
allowing
fingertips of one’s left hand to have no obstruction and allowing more
sensitivity to the mechanism of the camera.
More specifically, the
Gibson Signature camera is an MP with an M7-type angled rewind crank
for speed.
The color is matte black in order to not reflect light onto the
subject.
Additionally, the shutter release and shutter-release socket have been
blackened in order for the frame counter to be the brightest highlight
when one
looks down and not distract the eye. A burgundy leather covering was
chosen
because it compliments the camera’s classic contours, and of course,
Ralph Gibson’s signature is engraved on the top.
The camera will be
available through authorized Leica dealers in October 2005 and will
retail for
$5500.
For more
information about Leica, please visit the website at www.leicacamerausa.com.
|
|
|
