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Leica Tour: Inside a Camera Company at a Crossroads
- By ***** *****
- October 12, 2009 |
- 8:45 pm |
- Categories: *****, *****
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Rudi Spiller, CEO of Germany’s Leica Camera AG, has a square jaw andstands as though rooted to the floor. His hair is closely cropped, andbehind his rimless glasses his eyes are keen.
In opening remarks at a recent press conference heralding three newLeica products, Spiller described the company’s latest triumphs withthe confidence of a supervillain proclaiming world domination. Aftergreeting the inhabitants of planet Earth with salutations in a dozenlanguages, he waxed poetic about Leica’s commitment to excellence, andincluded a simple summation: “Our precision. Is. Perfect.”
The Leica M9, which debuted that day last month, is the latest in aline of rangefinder cameras that stretches back half a century. “Thiscamera became an instant classic in 1954, and is now perfectlydesigned,” says Spiller, causing listeners to wonder whether the worldwill ever need an M10.
It has been three years since the much-heralded release of the M8,the previous model in Leica’s M series, which was the first digital inthe line (and a year since the M8.2 update)***** visited theLeica factory in Solms, Germany, before the M9 was released and lookedbehind the scenes to see how Leica builds its renowned cameras. Here’sa glimpse of the historic company, with photos of its meticulousmanufacturing process and the looming digital crossroads that willdetermine its future.
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Above: Here’s a Leica M8 in an early stage ofassembly. Many of the mechanical parts are in place, but theviewfinder, lenses and electronic components have not been added.
The Leica camera manufacturing facility is located in Solms,Germany. Many of the employees who build Leicas have been with thecompany for decades. Stefan Daniels, who currently heads the Solmsfacility and helped direct the development of the M9, started withLeica at age 15, and earned a technical degree through his work at thecompany.
Photos: Jock Fistick/*****
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No photograph is a true copy of its subject, or even of the imagethat strikes the camera’s lens. But philosophical objections don’t stopphotographers from pursuing the ideal image, which requires craft. Theright tool can make all the difference.
For generations of photojournalists working in the middle of theaction, a Leica camera was that tool. Korda’s portrait of Che Guevara;the naked, wailing Vietnamese girl photographed by Nick Ut as she fleda napalm attack; the sailor kissing the nurse on V-J Day in TimesSquare in 1945 by Alfred Eisenstaedt — all were snapped with Leicas. Infact, the company can honestly claim to have made such photographspossible in the first place. The cameras were compact, unobtrusive,reliable in the face of daily punishment and able to capture lifelikepictures without a second’s preparation.
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Above: Technicians insert the CCD, the camera’simage sensor, into the M8 body. The CCD is made to Leica’sspecifications by Kodak. Its surface is covered in tiny microlensesdesigned to shift incoming light rays so that they strike the sensorevenly, with one microlens in front of every pixel. Each lens isroughly the thickness of a human hair.
Once the CCD is inserted, workers assemble the camera’slightweight magnesium chassis, attaching the front to the back andsecuring top and bottom plates of heavy brass, designed to protect thedelicate internal components.
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