Hello all

Went to my local dealer yesterday to enquire about a new Noctilux and was surprised to see 'Made in Canada' on the barrel of the lens. Is the current spec lens still made in Canada? Thanks

-- Karl Yik (karl.yik@dk.com), April 12, 2002

Answers

yes all of the current optical formula noctilux's are and were made in canada... i don't know if the f1.2 one was as well.

-- Matthew Geddert (geddert@yahoo.com), April 12, 2002.

Any ideas why they didnt move this to be made in germany along with all their other lenses? I have read that this lens is actually made by another company for Leica?? Not sure

-- Karl Yik (karl.Yik@dk.com), April 12, 2002.

Noctilux f1.2 6 element made only in Wetzlar from 1966 from 1975. This is a collectors item as it used aspherical hand ground lenses. Noctilux f1 started production in 1976 (7 element)in Canada and is the same formula as today (Mandler - lens engineer - "THE MAN"). Unless you shoot it wide open you are better off to push film one stop. This not a lens for general photography and will not replace a 50mm Summilux or Summicron. Your best bet is to use a 75mm f 1.4 Summilux(Mandler - lens engineer - "THE MAN")and push 1 stop given the quality of today's film stock. Good Luck and hope you take a breath and hold steady.... F. William Baker

-- F. William Bker (atelfwb@aol.com), April 12, 2002.

Noctilux and SUMMICRON 50/2 are still made by Elcan in Midland Ontario. This plant was former Wild- Leitz Canada Limited, later sold to General Motor, now belongs to Raytheon

-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), April 12, 2002.

in point of fact, i don't believe the noctilux is being made anywhere at the mment. for more than three years now, leica has been filling orders from stock. apparently given stock on hand, coupled with current level of demand, they don't project having to make them anytime soon.

-- roger michel (michel@tcn.org), April 12, 2002.

The answer to your question about why the Noc is made in Canada and not in Germany. They use Berilium in the production of the lense elements. This substance is outlawed in germany. Leica can import the finished lense elements and assemble the noc there as they do with the latest version.

-- Al Henry (J Henry@provide.net), April 12, 2002.

Why is it important where the lens is made? Who cares, as long as it works well? Frank

-- Frank (frank_bunnik@hotmail.com), April 12, 2002.

Very true, but if you saw a lens that said 'Made in Hong Kong' and a lens that said 'Made in Germany'. Which one would you 'trust' more??

-- Karl Yik (Karl.Yik@dk.com), April 12, 2002.

But that is not the point here is it Karl? Leica Canada is still Leica. Isn't the M7 made in Portugal? Frank

-- Frank (frank_bunnik@hotmail.com), April 12, 2002.

German engineering has always appealed to me as being the best in its field. Cameras aside, I have always bought german products as they are top notch and built to last. So having a 'Made in Germany' stamp on something is more reasuring than 'Made in somewhere else' This is esp true when buying a lens for 2 thousand pounds! The lens itself is still beautifully made though.

-- Karl Yik (Karl.Yik@dk.com), April 12, 2002.

and without getting into a flame war, leica canada has certainly had its share of qc probs in the past. when they made the first 90 summicrons there, the reject rate in germany (where the lenses were checked post-production)was more than 30%.

-- roger michel (michel@tcn.org), April 12, 2002.

Of all the new Leica M lenses that I brought over the past few years, the Noctilux, made in Canada, is by far superior in quality to the rest. In comparison, the Summilux 35 ASPH and Summilux 75, both of which are make in Germany, are 'sub-quality' products in traditional Leica standards.

-- Cing-Dao Kan (cdkan@yahoo.com), April 12, 2002.

Karl:

In these days of globalization, borders and old ideas about quality are quickly changing.

If something is made in Hoing Kong or Germany there is no real difference, as the defining standard is "who is the customer and what are their requirements".

Often, the machinery is the same, the materials are the same and the customer usually has direct control over the process and quality. The main defference is the cost of labour and the level of health, safety and environmental enforcement, not to mention the cost of social benefits in developed countries.

I am a Canadian living in Singapore and my job is to visit our customers' plants and operations in Asia to make sure they meet the same level of quality that is met in N America and Europe.

A Chinese operator, of a Toshiba machine supervised by a German trained foreman using steel from Sweden or glass from Hoya can produce a product that meets ALL quality requirements of any company in the world?

Why do manufacturers do this? A major maker of computer disk drives is presently shifting operations from Singapore to Shanghai China because they can pay a Chinese 3 dollars a day instead of a Malaysian working in Singapore $30 a day.

Do you fly in airplanes these days? Many parts of Name Brand airplanes are made in their own, or joint venture plants in China, using US, Swiss, German and Italian machinery, installed and serviced by the factory reps. There are some models of Porches & BMWs made in European plants owned by a Canadian company and shipped out as Porches & Beemers.

What counts is the Name & it's authenticity and backing by the owner of the name.

Cheers

-- richard ilomaki (richard.ilomaki@hotmail.com), April 12, 2002.

There is no difference between Leica lenses made in Canada versus those made in Germany. I have owned and used more than half a dozen lenses made in Canada and have never had any problems with them. Other users can verify this with their own experiences. This topic has been discussed countless times in this and other Leica forums! :-(

-- Muhammad Chishty (applemac97@aol.com), April 12, 2002.

:-)

-- Muhammad Chishty (applemac97@aol.com), April 12, 2002.

Well, for those of us who want to unload "superior" German stuff for a fat price, Karl sounds like a great potential customer.

BTW, I wonder whether he will pay even more if they're made in Wetzlar instead of Solms. ;-)

-- Andrew (mazurka@rocketmail.com), April 12, 2002.

As long as certain design, production standards are adhered to and quality control tight then it matters not the race religion or gender of the person who did the assembling. To answer your question I surmise Leica probably made a very large final batch before leaving Canada and since the Noctilux was never a volume seller there won't be a need for a Solms version until these run out.

-- ray tai (razerx@netvigator.com), April 12, 2002.

Karl It is quite a general knowledge that low sales but high tech Leica lens are (were) made in Canada. What's wrong with that. As a genuine user, absolutely not wheeling and dealing, I don't care too much about the resale value. I don't want to sell my equipment anyway.

-- WP Cheng (cwpcsl@netvigator.com), April 13, 2002.

I completely agree with WP. However, there ARE Canadian models which are worth more than their German counterparts, e.g. Canadian-made M4's and especially this one: http://www.37108.com/retina/htm/ke7a.htm

-- Andrew (mazurka@rocketmail.com), April 15, 2002.

What are the major differences of products bwtween made in Canada and Germany?

-- Samuel Yu (sysp1706@netvigator.com.hk), November 07, 2002.