June 2013

M Accessories to Begin Shipping

If you're one of the Chosen Few to have an M body, your luck is about to get even better. The majority of the Leica M accessories will start shipping in the USA next month, first to existing pre-orders. Read more below for the details!

Leica HQ Offline

If you're trying to reach Leica in Germany today, you might want to try again tomorrow... They just posted this on their Facebook page. Read more below for the update on what happened.

We have a power failure at the Leica HQ, which also means no telephone and no internet connection until tomorrow morning. There is no use to try to reach us today. Sorry about the inconvenience.
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Leica Warns of M Delays

It should come as no surprise to anyone that you can't obtain the latest M camera within anything resembling a "reasonable" timeframe, despite the fact that it's been out for months now. In a letter sent to Leica dealers this week, Leica Camera's COO Markus Limberger apologized for the delays, saying it was largely caused by the "elaborate manual process" and "enormous demand." He went on to say that demand has "far exceeded our expectations," resulting in unavoidable delays to deliveries... Leica's pending move to new facilities and the hiring of additional workers should help to alleviate this pressure, but not until next year! Read more below for the full story and (update!) Leica press release...

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Leica-Inspired iPhone Case Concepts

Les Forges MDK has recently introduced some neat looking, and Leica-inspired iPhone 5 case concepts that you might want to check out. They're not available for sale, but do point out the obvious "metal and leather" aesthetic that we all know and love.

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A Message to the Community

This post has been a long time coming. Recently things have come to a boiling point. The state of the online Leica ecosystem has become negative and bitter (especially lately) and quite frankly, tiring. Not just the bashing of Leica in general outside of these circles, or the blistering criticism of every new product because it doesn't meet some fantasy hardware specification people have built up in their minds. But the personal attacks on fellow forum members, other forums and individuals and pettiness in general. One forum won't mention another forum for fear of losing their tenuous grip within the niche, people bash others (e.g. Rockwell and Huff) for doing their own thing. People even criticize entire sites outright, including La Vida Leica. Enough is enough already! This is one of the biggest reasons we started La Vida Leica... To make a clean break, steer clear of the cliques and be a nice place to hang out. To talk about what we all love - photography. Read more below:

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Internet Hates X Vario

Leica has always had its share of detractors. But today's release of the new "Mini M" or X Vario as it's officially called - has released a firestorm of criticism across the web. Almost universally, people are balking at the "slow zoom" and "high price" of the camera. While granted, these are rather valid criticisms... The vitriol unleashed upon Leica, even on their Facebook page is bordering on hysteria. A veritable lynch mob with torches and pitchforks is forming in cyberspace and marching upon Solms as we speak...

Lighten up, people. It's a camera.

Every Moment Tells a Story

Alex Coghe, an Italian photojournalist living in Mexico, looks for the energy factor when documenting the everyday life situations of the people visiting Chapultepec Park. Alex uses the Leica X2 for his work because it is compact, lightweight and discrete:

Alex Coghe: Every Moment Tells a Story


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The Personal View of Things

Yvonne Venegas investigates portraiture by taking pictures when the subject is not prepared and capturing moments that are seemingly a photographic mistake. The new Leica X Vario, announced on June 11, 2013, offers her the compact size and manual settings she needs to achieve her photographic goals:

Yvonne Venegas: The Personal View of Things


The X Vario Has Arrived!

As we reported earlier, in Details of the Mini M Revealed - today is the big day - and it's here! The specs were confirmed and just like we said... It's an "X2 with a slow zoom." Unfortunately, the initial response to the X Vario is somewhat predictable - that is to say, a big, collective "meh." The folks on various forums and even mainstream sites are quick to lament the "slow zoom" (it is f/3.5-6.4 after all) and high price tag (it is a Leica after all). This camera will clearly appeal to those that passed on the X2 because of the single focal length lens, but perhaps not the "photographers" among us. Time will tell how this camera works out for Leica. If nothing else, the early sample photos really do look nice... There's even a hands-on report already. Read more below for the press release:

Leica Leads in Top-50 Luxury Brands

Ernst & Young and the Munich Business School have published their "Top 50" list of German luxury goods manufacturers and Handelsblatt picks up the story (in German). Leica is number one, with instrument maker Dornbracht and fine writing instrument maker Mont Blanc rounding out second and third place, respectively. "High-quality German products stand for quality, technical finesse, style and often sustainability." You can check out some of the others or read more below for the full text of the article, also translated into English:

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Leica Now Offering Lightroom 5

Leica Camera has announced in a press release that Adobe Lightroom 5 will now be included with all M cameras (as well as S, X, V and D-Lux lines as well). As usual, it can be downloaded after registering your camera, via the Owner's Area of their site. Even if you have an older camera, as long as your TAN remains unused - you can grab this latest version of Lightroom. Otherwise, an upgrade will run you $79USD. Read more below for the full information and press release.

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Details of the Mini M Revealed!

Codenamed "Paula" - it looks like we now have the likely specifications on the upcoming "Mini M" camera that Leica has been teasing us with on their website and will be revealed on June 11th. Other sites on the web have varying information (including the above image). The name appears to be the Leica "X Vario" (Type 107). Read more below for the full specs, other images and sample photos!