What's the font name used by Leica

[chiamad]

hi all,
anybody can help me out on the font name which is used in all the lenses/bodies
of leica? is it lucida sans? i'm using both windows and macos x, so it's okay to have either font file. thanks a lot

:: dom

[michael_boylan]

Dom,

Sorry, can't help you with the name but I know it's definitely not Lucida. Whatever they've used is much more boxy and angular than Lucida.

Michael

[robsiii]

It so funny you posted this--I was on the same discovery mission the other night. I saw one posting somewhere supposing that it was similar to, but not exactly Din Schriften, which is available officially from Adobe with many knockoffs all over the web.

[zlatkob]

DIN Regular?

[chilihead]

Isn't it Summiluxian Elmaria? No wait, actually its Hectorian Rangefindia - or maybe its Summarian Asphixia (Bold) -- oh font, I can't remember!!!

[spylaw4]

Originally Posted by chilihead

Isn't it Summiluxian Elmaria? No wait, actually its Hectorian Rangefindia - or maybe its Summarian Asphixia (Bold) -- oh font, I can't remember!!!

[DTD]

You could try here:

Identifont - Identify fonts by appearance, find fonts by name

[glowie]

Eurostile

[chiamad]

hehehe, that's quite an interesting discussion...
okay, will try all of them, and start searching.
will let you know once things are looking good.

robsiii,
somehow we are in the same frequency/connected then =]
i'm trying to use the font on my lotus notes standard font for outgoing emails

michael, wonder if you are a copy writer...?
a very detailed analysis from the way you described the font...

ta everyone and have a good evening (it's close to midnite here in s'pore)

:: dom

[zapp]

Originally Posted by chiamad

hi all,
anybody can help me out on the font name which is used in all the lenses/bodies
of leica? is it lucida sans? i'm using both windows and macos x, so it's okay to have either font file. thanks a lot

:: dom

For corporate identity reason you just make up your own font and don't publish it. Other fonts may come close, but non will be equal. At the same time the font is probably copyrighted.

[Speenth]

I've just tried identifying the Leica font using DTD's 'Identifont' website. The closest offering it puts up is a font called 'Malmo Sans'.

Go here to see if you agree: Identifont - Malm Sans. Failing that Identifont also offers 'Bosis' (which is pretty close, but not quite and also 'Battersea'.

None are spot on however. I tend to agree with earlier posters - its probably a variation on a standard font, but unique to Leica.

[roccoriley]

Why don't you email Leica with your question?

[hankg]

For the M8 on front of the camera you can use Eurostile but the lens fonts were designed for Leica and you will not find them in any font database.

[jacksparrow]

I understand it is DIN 1451 Std Mittelschrift. You can take a look at it here:

Download DIN 1451 Font Family - Linotype.com

If you are interested, here's the story

"DIN stands for Deutsche Industrienorm, German Industrial Standard. In 1936 the German Standard Committee settled upon DIN 1451 as the standard font for the areas of technology, traffic, administration and business. The Committee chose a sans serif font because of its legibility and because its forms are also easy to write. This font was not foreseen for advertisements and other 'artistically oriented uses' and there were disagreements about its aesthetic qualities. Nevertheless, this font was seen everywhere in Germany, on signs for towns and traffic, and hence made its way into advertisements because of its ease of recognition."

cheers

[jphoto]

Eurostile is quite close to the "made in Germany etc." text on my CM and M6, but there are some differences, for example the letter C is more open when compared to eurostile. Numbers are completely different and simpler than eurostile, my guess would be that they have a custom typeface, maybe designed especially for their engraving needs.

[chiamad]

Originally Posted by roccoriley

Why don't you email Leica with your question?

Hi,
yeah, finally i did that and here's what they say.

Dear Mr. Chiam,

the font is called "LG 1050" and it was specially created for Leica Camera,
as far as I know.

I wish you a nice day.

Freundliche Grüße / kind regards
Alexandra Althof
Leica Camera AG / Produktkommunikation /
Telefon +49-6442-208-402 / Fax +49-6442-208-455 /
Oskar-Barnack-Straße 11 / 35606 Solms /

Zapp is also spot on, they are not sharing the fontfile to anyone as it's protected.

Thanks to all the suggestion. After looking at all of them, i think the closest one would be the DIN 1451 mittelschrift and malm sans...

mfg,

:: dom