Leica is a camera company that defined the so-called Leica format, or the standard 35mm format, so it's safe to say Leica is the pioneer of today's photographic industry. Since cameras have been shifted to digital, camera sales has been growing more than ever. So, you may think this company should have a glorious history as well, but actually it's far from being glorious. In their long history, they have been in financial crises or had system changes many times. However, as we reported from the Photokina the other day, they are very aggressive since they released the Leica M8. Despite the large price tag, digital M cameras have spread to both existing and new Leica users. Is it just because of digitalization? It's shouldn't be that simple because even Japanese camera companies are being reorganized and their balance of power has changed. One of the public images of Leica in Japan is the Leica M3, but it's a camera released in more than 50 years ago. We fortunately had a chance to speak with their key persons in the Leica Solms head office and we were invited to the factory tour. In this article, we will attempt to investigate modern Leica company and Leica cameras by reporting what we found in Solms.
* Please note that, just to be simple, we call the company, "Leica Company" instead of the current "Leica Camera AG" or other names in the past.
