Leica lenses made by Kyocera Japan?
bachch...@my-dejanews.com
confirm or disprove?
Andrew.
On Wed, 09 Dec 1998 19:12:35 GMT, in rec.photo.equipment.medium-format
see.si...@bottom.com (gary gaugler) wrote:
>On Wed, 09 Dec 1998 16:44:15 GMT, bachch...@my-dejanews.com wrote:
>
>>On Wed, 09 Dec 1998 04:28:37 GMT, see.si...@bottom.com (gary
>>gaugler) wrote:
>>
>>>On Wed, 9 Dec 1998 04:35:04 +0100, "WEILL" <frp...@wanadoo.fr> wrote:
>>
>><snip>
>>
>>>And a motor winder for another $500? Not to mention that the Leica
>>>lenses cost about 3 times more than Contax Zeiss lenses....and they
>>>both come from the same factory.
>>
>>Leica lenses are made in Solms, Germany while Contax/Zeiss lenses are
>>primarily made in Japan by Kyocera. Nowadays Zeiss does not make
>>anything (not even Hologon) for Leica or vice versa.
>>
>>Andrew.
>>
>>
>>(To reply, remove "bach" from address.)
>
>
>According to my visit, Leica lenses are made in the same factory in
>Japan by Kyocera as are the Zeiss lenses for Contax. The 300/4 Contax
>is still made in Germany. Probably some of the Leica lenses are as
>well. But the bulk of production is from Japan it seems. Maybe this
>has changed for Leica lenses since I was last updated.
>
>Gary Gaugler, Ph.D.
On Wed, 09 Dec 1998 21:20:50 GMT, in rec.photo.equipment.medium-format
see.si...@bottom.com (gary gaugler) wrote:
>On Wed, 09 Dec 1998 21:06:28 GMT, see.si...@bottom.com (gary
>gaugler) wrote:
>
>>On Wed, 09 Dec 1998 11:53:06 -0800, Godfrey DiGiorgi
>><godfrey....@eng.sun.com> wrote:
>>
>>>Someone is adapting the Zeiss Hologon 16mm for Leica M mount. I've seen
>>>it advertised before. The Hologon 16mm and all the MF Zeiss lenses
>>>(don't know about the new Contax 645 series, though) are all made in
>>>Germany, not at Kyocera in Japan. At least that was my understanding
>>>when last I discussed it with the Zeiss folks at a photo show.
>>>
>>>Godfrey
>>
>Edited and re-posted....Leica, not Zeiss....sorry.
>
>Nope. Look at a new Leica lens. Right on the barrel by the aperture
>ring it says "Made in Japan." That sounds like Not Made In Germany to
>me. Like I said, there are a couple of lenses made in Germany. Same
>for Contax. But the majority of recent vintage production lenses are
>made in Japan. The earlier units were indeed made in Germany.
>
>
>Gary Gaugler, Ph.D.
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Modern surfers use PC boards....you can too at
>
> http://photoweb.net
>
> E-mail: gaugler@calweb dot com
(To reply, remove "bach" from address.)
ed romney
bad...Collect the old ones..also buy Russian Fed or Zorky Leica copies
, which can have excellent lenses. Use Zeiss Contax lenses on the
neat Yashica FX-3 which is far more practical than the Contax RTS.
Best wishes...Ed Romney http://www.edromney.com
Godfrey DiGiorgi
>confirm or disprove?
>Andrew.
I was discussing this with Dr. Gary Gaugler as I didn't understand his
use of my quotation in his response. So I sent a note off to a friend of
mine who co-authored a book on Zeiss Ikon and is a member of the Zeiss
Historica Society as well as an avid Leica user (and I believe he's in
process authoring a book on Leica optics as well). I take his response
as fairly authoritative:
MJS:
>A couple of the new Leica R zooms are manufactured by Kyocera --
>I believe there is some information on this on the Leica web
>site. All other Leica lenses are made at Solms. I am relatively
>confident that all M lenses are made there.
>
>The relationship with Kyocera came about because Leica hired away
>one of the senior Zeiss lens gurus a couple or three years back,
>and he was comfortable working with Kyocera. But this
>Leica-Kyocera connexion is absolutely independent of the
>Zeiss-Kyocera relationship. The Leica lenses, for instance, do
>not pass through Zeiss's 'round-eye room' for final inspection,
>but are inspected independently.
I have not checked the Leica website for corroborating information as
yet, but it should be simple to do so.
Godfrey
bachch...@my-dejanews.com
Date:
Sun, 13 Dec 1998 11:01:27 -0500
From:
Marc James Small <msm...@roanoke.infi.net>
Add to Address Book
Subject:
Re: [Leica] (fwd) Leica lenses made by
Kyocera Japan?
To:
leica...@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Cc:
chac...@my-dejanews.com
<sigh> We go over this, time and time again, to no
avail.
A few of the Leica R lenses and most of the Contax
SLR and G lenses are
made at the former Tominon facility in Kyoto by
Kyocera. The production
lines are, I believe, intermixed, though I understand
that the final
testing is separate. Each lens is inspected by
employees of the company
responsible for the lens -- Zeiss inspects the Contax
SLR and G lenses,
Leica inspects the R lenses.
Most Leica lenses are now made at Solms, though a few
are still made at the
old Ernst Leitz Midland facility in Canada, now
owned, I believe, by
Raytheon. Leica has never made lenses in Portugal.
Zeiss manufactures the extreme wide-angle and
specialty Contax SLR and G
lenses at Oberkochen. Yes, the 8/16 G Hologon is
"out of production", but
understand what this means: Zeiss makes its lenses
in batches, and it
simply is between batches at the moment. As soon as
it sells off enough of
the on-hand stock to justify it, production will be
resumed for another batch.
And that, my hearties, is the News from Lake Wobegon!
Marc
msm...@roanoke.infi.net FAX: +540/343-7315
Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!
Dirk Hessinger
owning 3 Leica-R prime lenses (all bought new within the last 6 years) I
can say that I have not a single Leica lens made in japan. Two lenses are
made in Germany and one is made in Canada.
As far as I know, the prime R-lenses and the expensive zoom-lenses
(i.e. 2,8/70-180) were made in Germany and the cheaper zoom-lenses
(i.e. 3,5-4,5/28-70, 4/35-70, 4/80-200) are made in Japan.
Yours
Dirk
Stéphane Leman-Langlois
>(i.e. 2,8/70-180) were made in Germany and the cheaper zoom-lenses
>(i.e. 3,5-4,5/28-70, 4/35-70, 4/80-200) are made in Japan.
Why is that important? You don't have to actually go to Japan or Germany to
buy the lenses, right?
Terry Danks
<hess...@duchesse.zdv.Uni-Mainz.DE> wrote:
>Two lenses are
>made in Germany and one is made in Canada.
>
You got to be kidding!! We don't make ANYTHING in Canada!
I don't believe this. . .
Terry Danks
Nova Scotia
CANADA
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/danksta/home.htm
dot nyet
stephane.le...@utoronto.ca says...
>Why is that important? You don't have to actually go to Japan or Germany to
>buy the lenses, right?
For some reason, many people view German craftsmanship as superior.
I'm not sure I agree with this, as in my opinion, the best engineered
automobiles these days are coming out of Japan. On the other hand,
with regard to optics, I know Canon and Nikon have shifted some
assembly to other parts of Asia. I'm of the opinion that the
workmanship on these products isn't as good as what comes from
Japan. I think its a work ethic, a matter of pride to do the job
right in Japan.
Chris Ward
element 50mm F2 that was used on a military version of the M4.....
Terry Danks wrote in message <3676c58b....@news1.sympatico.ca>...
Waldemar Maciejewski
a quick look at their leicas, and behold:
On their R8, "Leitz Elmar Canada 50mm F2", elsewhere on the lens "Made in
Canada"
Yeah, I was shocked. wierd!
Conrad
Chris Ward wrote in message <7573sl$s...@nnrp2.farm.idt.net>...
TonynyX44
>made in Germany and one is made in Canada.
>
You got to be kidding!! We don't make ANYTHING in Canada!
I don't believe this. . .
Terry Danks
Nova Scotia
CANADA
Eh not anymore..even LEICA screws up now and than and PAWNS work out. But
they've since wised up and brought it back to the home land.
kum...@po.cnet-ma.ne.jp
"Chris Ward" writes:
>> I know that E. Leitz used to make lenses in Canada. There was a four
>> element 50mm F2 that was used on a military version of the M4.....
>> Terry Danks wrote in message <3676c58b....@news1.sympatico.ca>...
That is Elcan for KE7A, right? Noctilux 50mm F1.2 is Canadian, right?
Or did Leitz Canada make 1.0, too?
I have seen some Japanese R Leica lenses and some Canadian lenses,
and Leitz New York Velostigmats in used camera shops. Maybe They are
counterfaits. :-P
----------------
Tom Kumagai
Chris Ward
a good working relationship with Minolta for awhile, which may be
continuing.
kum...@po.cnet-ma.ne.jp wrote in message
<757r1r$2...@jalapeno.enchilada.or.jp>...
Martin Tai
Distribution:
Leitz Canada was a manufacturing and optical research and developemnt
facilty establised in the 50s to late 80s at Midland Ontario, Canada;
Midland is a beautiful town near Georgian Lake. Leitz Canada made great
numbers
of Leica lenses, some of the most famous Leica lenses such Summilux
was designed at Midland by world famous lens designer Walter Mandler.
Summilux was derived from a made for military lens Elcan, which
stood for Ernst Leitz Canada.
During Leitz restructuring in late 80s Ernst Leitz Canada was sold to
Hughes Aircraft, and now the factory in Midland is called Hughes Elcan
Optical Works. It still makes some Leica lenses for Leica Camera
Group in Solms Germany, under contract.
Ernst Leitz Camada used to make some Leica M cameras.
Some of the made in Canada Leica M cameras are collector items, quite
expensive.
Ernst Leitz Canada also designed and manufactures the projection lens
for IMAX theaters.
martin tai of Ontario
Waldemar Maciejewski (con...@v-wave.com) wrote:
: I was at McBain Camera the other day, as I live in Edmonton, Alberta. I had
: a quick look at their leicas, and behold:
: On their R8, "Leitz Elmar Canada 50mm F2", elsewhere on the lens "Made in
: Canada"
: Yeah, I was shocked. wierd!
: Conrad
: Chris Ward wrote in message <7573sl$s...@nnrp2.farm.idt.net>...
: >I know that E. Leitz used to make lenses in Canada. There was a four
: >element 50mm F2 that was used on a military version of the M4.....
: >Terry Danks wrote in message <3676c58b....@news1.sympatico.ca>...
: >>On Tue, 15 Dec 1998 15:06:19 +0100, Dirk Hessinger
: >><hess...@duchesse.zdv.Uni-Mainz.DE> wrote:
: >>
: >>>Two lenses are
: >>>made in Germany and one is made in Canada.
: >>>
: >>You got to be kidding!! We don't make ANYTHING in Canada!
: >>I don't believe this. . .
: >>Terry Danks
: >>Nova Scotia
: >>CANADA
Edo Engel
Contax bodies. Most Contax bodies come with Carl Zeiss lenses, which is
obviously not the same as Kyocera. So I cannot imagine that Kyocera
makes the even better Leica lenses either.
Cheers,
Edo
kum...@po.cnet-ma.ne.jp
Edo Engel writes:
Kyocera manufactures lenses FOR CZ, and CZ personnels inspect the lens
manufactured. They do the same with Leica. Their main products are LSI
casings, so they are really good at precisions.
Last year I have sent Kyocera my Contax 167MT + Planar 50mm F1.4 for
overhaul, my equipments came back with two receipts. Both from Kyocera,
but both are completely same format, and one had Kyocera inspection stamp
on, and another had CZ one.
----------------
Tom Kumagai
Dan Cardish
were designed in Canada.
Dan C.
GLewis4457
It is kind of naive to believe that all Zeiss, Leica, etc.. lenses are made by
elves in the Black Forest or that some other company cannot produce a lens of
the same quality. The key issue is specificatiions. If Kyocera is contracted
to make XYZ lenses to a certain spec they will be indistinguishable from a lens
made elsewhere to those same specifications. Quality is in the specifications.
The higher the specifications, the higher the manufacturing costs, the higher
the rejections rate, etc. and these are passed through to the buyer of all the
other lenses to cover. Regardles of our other perceptions, these folks are
businessmen and must be cost competative within their market. If not they will
not be selling and will not be making anything anymore as their market dries
up.
Jerry in Houston
Jerry Lewis
League City, TX., USA
Peter Leyenaar
One of the Leica R lenses, considered by many to be one of the finest
lenses ever,the 180 mm Apo Telyt R was designed and manufactured by
Ernst Leitz Canada Ltd.An other fine lens manufactured in Canada is
the 135 mm 2.8 Elmarit R in addition to 35 mm and 50mmElcan F2 lenses
and many others lenses .Also a number of the earlyer M cameras were
manufactured in Canada.
Leica equipment has been manufatured all around the world and by other
companies such as Minolta ,Zeiss and many other companies.
I presently have 2 Japanese Leica lenses, the 35-70 f4 and the 80 -200
f4 and I think that they are very good, I could'nt affort the German
made zooms at truly astonishing prizes.
Contrary to what Terry thinks, Canada makes a lot of very good
products and has very viable and high quality industries, in fact
Canada's communications and electronics industry is second to none.
Regards Peter Leyenaar
nobody
Francis Lee
>see article about Leica Portual Ltd in "Economist" issue 3-4 weeks ago
My 4 year old Leica bino is made in Portugal.