Leica

Over on Mittelhesse.de is an article "Wetzlar-South: Turning the Traffic Jam Around" (in German). Apparently the traffic is already somewhat heavy at the Wetzlar-South exit on the Autbahn, backing up onto the A 45 as 3,000 people make their way into the Spilburg industrial park... And this before 650 employees are set to begin their commute to the new Leica headquarters (called Leitz Park). A local engineering firm was tasked to investigate ways to mitigate the pending increase in traffic and the first recommendations are in. Two roundabouts were initially considered, but will not bring enough relief; additional lanes are now being considered as well. Read more below for translation and details.

Ralph Gibson's new book “MONO,” which features images taken with the Leica M Monochrom, was released on December 11 at the Leica Store Lisse. Also announced at the event was the exclusive, limited edition Leica M Monochrom "Ralph Gibson" which we scooped back at the end of November.

Leica Camera teamed up with the Miami Street Photography Festival to help bring back photography into Art Basel Miami. Featured events included portraits by Mark Mann with the Leica S-System and workshops with the Leica Akademie. Art Basel Miami was held on December 3 - December 8, 2013.

Over on Manager Magazine Online is an article called "Camera Magica" (in German - see below for English). It starts off by talking about the M Monochrom, how it took one and a half years of development and devouring "tens of millions of Euros" to bring to fruition. Hoping to sell 3,500 units - turns out, it was triple that. It goes on to talk about the near-bankruptcy of Leica Camera AG, the Blackstone investment, the new factory in Portugal as well as the new Leitz Park in Wetzlar (which cost €65M, financed by Kaufmann - Leica is a tenant!). Apparently the dream is to have 300 stores worldwide (with 150 currently). Plus mention of a new series of cameras and Internet services... A lengthy, interesting read. Read more below for translation.

Jon Fauer over at Film & Digital Times is reporting that the newest Leica cine lenses, the Summicron-C, are now available. Similar to the still camera lenses, the new Summicron-C lenses are T2.0 while the existing Summilux-C lenses are T1.4. This first release consists of six lenses (18, 25, 35, 50, 75 and 100mm) and will grow to ten (adding 21, 29, 40, and 135mm). The Summicron-C lenses are about 30% shorter and 20% lighter than the Summilux-C... Which is pretty impressive. Read more below for details.

CPT Rental Inc. based out of Long Island City, NY is reporting that $500K USD worth of Leica Summilux-C (cine) lenses were stolen off of a shoot being conducted by Doug Emmet in Los Angeles on Sunday, December 1, 2013. The incident is currently being investigated by detective Craig Marquez of the LAPD (case # 13022294) and can be reached at (213) 484-3479. The FBI is also involved. Any information or tips would be greatly appreciated. Read more below for lenses and serial numbers.