The michaels team visit Leica Akademie | michaels Camera Video Digital, Melbourne Australia

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michaels Team Attend the Leica Akademie

The michaels team visit Leica Akademie

michaels staff members attend the Leica Akademie *ahead of Leica Boutique* grand opening!**
In August 2011 two long-standing michaels team members Tom Kinkel and Owen Maroney were invited to attend the prestigious Leica Akademie in Solms, Germany. Tom and Owen joined an Australian and New Zealand group who were taken on an exclusive tour of the Leica factory in Solms, along with presentations from the various Leica optics divisions as well as a hands-on workshop at the Leica Akademie. This was a great honour for Tom and Owen to vastly increase their already strong Leica knowledge, and to share this with the rest of the michaels team to reinforce our position as the ultimate source of Leica equipment and advice in Australia.
During the Leica factory tour Tom and Owen visited the factory in Solms, which produces Leica M and S system cameras, lenses and components, and the original Wetzlar factory where the production of Leica Sports, Medical and Industrial optics takes place. Leica has manufactured microscopes in the Wetzlar factory since 1846. This equipment played a key role in the development of vaccines in the early twentieth century. With the Carl Zeiss factory nearby, this part of the world has a long history and tradition of developing the highest quality optics, with a mutually beneficial flow of information and knowledge between the organisations. During their tour of the Leica factories, it became clear to Tom and Owen that this was no typical high volume manufacturing environment. There were no robots here – just real people painstakingly assembling by hand and testing the various optical components at every stage of production. All glass is ground in house, factory staff test and rotate every element, before light is passed through them, projected and scrutinised to ensure true optical quality. Another striking aspect is how Leica has retained the rounded one piece camera body design from the very earliest models and through constant in-house research and development have created future-proof premium photographic equipment of the highest quality, workmanship and usability that represent multi-generational investment pieces.
Leica's ambitions are both grand and humble at the same time. They aim for only 1% of the total camera market. Space and resources are limited and production is labour intensive, meaning that demand always outstrips supply. In 2010 there were 7000-8000 lenses on backorder at any one time. Compare this with Leica's output of 800 lenses in 2010 and 2500 lenses in 2011 and it becomes clear that they are serious about getting it right rather than simply churning out equipment. Surely any Leica devotee would agree that the wait is worth it! Part of the process of development is in ensuring that every camera is backwards compatible with Leica lenses going back as far as the 1930's. This gives the benefit of uniformity of tonal characteristics and complete EXIF data. The Leica S2 medium format DSLR (plus the S-series lenses) were placed in a dishwasher on the heavy duty cycle as part of the testing process and survived!
The tour also encompassed the Leica showroom in Solms, where Tom and Owen got a sneak peek at the fittings we can expect to see in the Leica concept store opening on the first floor of michaels in November. In addition, the showroom featured a museum displaying Leica M and R series family trees, early prototypes that did not make it into production such as the 30mm and 100mm S-series lenses, and a giant 1600mm fully functional R-mount lens (pictured right)! But the highlight for them was seeing a Leica UR from 1914, making it the earliest Leica 35mm camera manufactured, with only three ever made (pictured above). This camera was used by the founder of Leica and is insured for 5 million euro (approx. 7 million Australian dollars). Needless to say Tom and Owen were a little nervous and possibly grateful to be confined to a safe distance whilst they and the rest of the paparazzi snapped away at this rare and beautiful object.
The Leica Akademie is set in a 15^th century cross-timbered farmhouse converted into a teaching school. There Tom and Owen had the opportunity to get hands on with an M9 each and several lenses such as the 24mm, 35mm and 90mm. The picturesque grounds proved a perfect location for test driving the gear. This experience was invaluable as Tom and Owen are now extremely qualified to not only demonstrate the product, but also to advise users on how they can get the most out of the equipment in real life shooting situations.

The Leica Akademie is set in a 15^th century cross-timbered farmhouse converted into a teaching school. There Tom and Owen had the opportunity to get hands on with an M9 each and several lenses such as the 24mm, 35mm and 90mm. The picturesque grounds proved a perfect location for test driving the gear. This experience was invaluable as Tom and Owen are now extremely qualified to not only demonstrate the product, but also to advise users on how they can get the most out of the equipment in real life shooting situations.