I will be traveling from Heidelberg (my home) to Solms on Friday to visit the factory and do the tour (in German). If anyone has any suggestions or comments, or questions even, please let me know.

I will be snooping for info on the much predicted M7 or updated TTL.

-- Kevin Baker (kevin@thebakers.org), January 15, 2002

Answers

Don't forget to get your free samples! :-)

-- Ron Snyder (STUDIO1401@AOL.COM), January 15, 2002.

Sample lenses and cameras? :-)...........

-- Muhammad Chishty (applemac97@aol.com), January 15, 2002.

Send them my love.

-- Giles Poilu (giles@monpoilu.icom43.net), January 15, 2002.

Kevin- Please ask about a 75mm Elmarit-M or Summicron-M.

-- Frank Horn (owlhoot45@hotmail.com), January 15, 2002.

Most likely you might be lead through the factory by Mr. Karl Heinz Welcker ... He is a long time employee of LEITZ-Wetzlar/ LEICA- Solms and most enthusiastic about photography and rational about the LEICA at the same time.

You will like the tour. Enjoy!

Best wishes

-- K. G. Wolf (k.g.wolf@web.de), January 15, 2002.

Thank them for the Leica M series for me.

-- Tim Spelich (tspelich@us.ibm.com), January 15, 2002.

Find out what cars they drive and what watches they wear. Especially the lens creators. :)

Seriously, please give us a paragraph or two on your tour, since most of us cannot do such a thing ourselves.

Thanks,

-- Sikaan (Sikaan4@aol.com), January 15, 2002.

Bring your cameras and lenses. They will check them out and make any minor adjustments for free.

-- John Collier (jbcollier@powersurfr.com), January 15, 2002.

Keep an eye open for blueprints/prototypes laying around on tables in the design area (!!) No Joke - in the most recent Leica World there's a brief about one tour that ran across a proto for the 21-35 R zoom, no doubt left exposed accidentally-on-purpose. Just the same way that Hans-Peter Cohn "just happened" to be getting out of a meeting as the tour went by.

Print out our most recently "want-lists" and pass them along, tactfully.

*actually the 'blueprints' may be on CAD computer monitors...

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), January 15, 2002.

Ask about the putative "new" 35-70mm F2.8 zoomlens. When are they going to start making the new version?? (8>))--Albert

-- Albert Knapp MD (albertknappmd@mac.com), January 15, 2002.

"Print out our most recently "want-lists" and pass them along, tactfully." Yes, and ask them (seriously) if they look at this forum.

-- Giles Poilu (giles@monpoilu.icom43.net), January 15, 2002.

Please ask them to include a link to this site on their web pages, just as they have to some other sites. Do point out that this is the most civil of all the forums, and it would be in their corporate interest to provide a link to such a fine, worthy discussion forum.

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), January 15, 2002.

Ask them if you can play around with an M7 prototype. Check it out and report back ASAP. Also, thank them for being so conservative and for keeping quality first.

-- Dan Brown (brpatent@swbell.net), January 15, 2002.

Ask them when they're going to deliver the $#$%%^Y% back orders for the 1.25x magnifier!

-- Ray Moth (ray_moth@yahoo.com), January 15, 2002.

And don't forget to bring your Nikon point and shoot...

-- Dave Doyle (soilsouth@home.com), January 15, 2002.

Hi, I will be in Nuremburg in a few months, anyone have an idea how far it is from the Leica factory? Maybe I'll swing by... Thanks Phillip

-- Phillip Silitschanu (speedin_saab@hotmail.com), January 16, 2002.

Can you ask them to work on a 0.95 Noctilux. I want the price of the f1 version to fall so I can buy one !

-- Yip (koklok@krdl.org), January 16, 2002.

Can you ask them to work on a 0.95 Noctilux. I want the price of the f1 version to fall so I can buy one !

Also I have been waiting a long time for a Leica medium format rangefinder

-- Yip (koklok@krdl.org), January 16, 2002.

Could you please thank them for me too.

-- musik (gsktra@yahoo.com), January 16, 2002.

To Phillip S.: You have to calculate a 2-3 hrs trainride between Nürnberg and Wetzlar (depending on the kind of train you choose). Then add a 20 min. taxiride to Solms. Best thing is perhaps, spend a night in Wetzlar, breath a bit of O. Barnack- air there and proceed to Solms next morning.

You can get in touch with the person responsible for organizing and conducting the factory tour:

Mr. K. H. Welcker, Tel.: (+)6441 200 90 99

Best wishes

-- K. G. Wolf (k.g.wolf@web.de), January 16, 2002.