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UK Division of Leica Sees Slower Sales

In a story over on City A.M. (London's first free daily business newspaper) it is reported that the UK division of Leica Camera has reported a slowdown in sales over the last year, despite rolling out the Leica M (Type 240), a flagship camera. They've reported a 12% dip in turnover for the year ending March 2013, to £13m ($21.3M USD) from £14.9m ($24.4M USD) a year ago. This fed into a 16% fall in gross profits and smaller profits before tax of £561,000 ($918,974 USD) for the year, according to accounts. “In September 2012, Leica launched the new M camera. Several months were required to consolidate production supplies leading to some loss of sales momentum, however, strong M camera sales are now returning,” it said. Leica UK declined to comment.

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TA Associates to Acquire CMOSIS

As you may be aware, a company based in Antwerp, Belgium by the name of CMOSIS makes the sensor in the Leica M (Type 240) camera, which early on promised to be a game changer. TA Associates (a global growth private equity firm) has agreed to acquire CMOSIS. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. CMOSIS employs over 60 people. What's perhaps telling is that Leica (or ACM) didn't acquire them - perhaps if they were German - but we've (in other words, you saw it here first) heard some rumblings lately that Leica is working on a 36-40MP camera, perhaps with their old friends TrueSense... Read more below for full details.

Behind Scenes with S on Red Bull Shoot

We have another "behind the scenes" with the Leica S-System to show you - though not with the Red Cross this time. Red Bull Illume joins photographer Markus Berger on this studio shoot with Red Bull's winter athletes. The concept was to create a set of unique action shots and portraits with a continuous theme that revealed the athletes as individuals but also part of a team. Each athlete was shot "in action," sometimes using climbing ropes to hold them in place. The shoot also included a light-hearted and experimental aspect to showcase the athlete's individual character.

Reinventing winter sports action photography - Red Bull Illume


Leica S-System CS Lens Woes Ahead?

We've heard some rumblings through the grapevine and are working to get additional confirmation and details... Which are sketchy, but from what we've heard, it is believed that something related to the manufacture of the Central Shutter (CS) in Leica's S-System CS lenses... Has been seriously affected. As a side-note, Copal was known since March to be ceasing production with their last run "late this year" - so the timing is right, but we don't believe at this time that they're connected. Read more below for details.

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