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Canadian made vs. German made.


HenrikP

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Biggest 'difference' was in price if you happened to live in Canada or UK, due to favourable tarifs. I bought my 35mm Summicron for M3 at only $8 Canadian more than the Summaron 2.8 in '68 in Montreal. Same bargain to be had in the uk. I think the Summicron is better than the Summaron for virtually the same money.

 

Gerry

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  • 8 months later...

Hello,

I think there is two way:

for the "purist" :-) there is only one" made in germany" but if you are looking close

the Elcan factory was extraordinary and talents managed the production. For cost price

few lenses was made in Canada with no compromise, more over for cost price, few of lenses was made

in Canada and the final result was assembled in Germany, so they can apply on final product

"made in Germany" but few internal lenses was design and producted in Canada! so few made in Germany was part product in Canada!! The special skills

of this product unit was amazing : they create and product the complex high refractive index (>1.9) lens in very special and expensive glass of the Noctilux during few years. Germany product unit didn't had this unit..

All noctilux was "made in Canada" except new product. Now elcan is a military product unit and a division of

Raython. In both case you have excellence in your hand! The only visible difference will be what you create with this amazing tools !

Have a nice day

Bertrand

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I would imagine marketing people love when customers drool over Made in Germany, commands prestige and premium and sells like a hot cakes, brand loving Far Eastern markets and elsewhere cant get enough - to go with Mont Blanc fountain pens, premium Swiss mechanical watches and premium leather goods. Today, Canada is not involved in current Leica offering for general public, there may be collaboration going on but we are not told.   

 

So how about this, lot of Leica gear labelled "Made in Germany" is mostly put together in Portugal with finishing touches in Germany, legally correct but high percentage done by a Portuguese hand.

 

Note, lot of top end high tech stuff is manufactured in China, prime example Apple phones, tablets and computers.

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I love finding old banged up Leica lenses and Ive owned several summicrons. 50mm, 35mm, 90mm and 135mm Canadian and German.  I've noticed that the Canadian lenses seem to be standing the test of time a little more gracefully.   My conclusions are far from scientific but  I've noticed that the Midland lenses even when worn and beaten to hell seem to keep their smoothness and "sharp clickieness" more than their German cousins.   Again, my conclusions are not scientific its just something that I've noticed. 

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Both Canadian 35/2 v4 with "tiger claw" focus tab below.
No German copy has been reported doing that as far as i recall but i may be wrong.
 

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I was in Midland recently and took a drive by the old Leica plant.  Its still going strong, its a bit of an armed camp because of the military optics that are produced there now.  I wonder if there's and old closet somewhere full of NOS summicrons, M4's and KE7A's stashed away.  Probably not but its a nice thought.  Check out "450 Leritz Rd. Midland Ontario"on google earth to see how it looks these days.  The Elcan battle sight comes from this plant.  I don't think they're too concerned with pretty bokeh with these optics.

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I was in Midland recently and took a drive by the old Leica plant.  Its still going strong, its a bit of an armed camp because of the military optics that are produced there now.  I wonder if there's and old closet somewhere full of NOS summicrons, M4's and KE7A's stashed away.  Probably not but its a nice thought.  Check out "450 Leritz Rd. Midland Ontario"on google earth to see how it looks these days.  The Elcan battle sight comes from this plant.  I don't think they're too concerned with pretty bokeh with these optics.

 

 

But I'd bet they are interested in APO correction. Especially when a nasty is almost a kilometer downrange.

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I was in Midland recently and took a drive by the old Leica plant. Its still going strong, its a bit of an armed camp because of the military optics that are produced there now. I wonder if there's and old closet somewhere full of NOS summicrons, M4's and KE7A's stashed away. Probably not but its a nice thought. Check out "450 Leritz Rd. Midland Ontario"on google earth to see how it looks these days. The Elcan battle sight comes from this plant. I don't think they're too concerned with pretty bokeh with these optics.

Interesting to see the light on that rifle - Novatac hasent existed for at least 5 years.

A great light while they were USA made, very quickly turned to junk when they moved production to china.

 

Glad henry (the designer) is back producing his improved version in the USA in small batches

Edited by Echo63
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When I bought my M 75 lux back in the very late 90s I had the choice between a Canadian or German copy. I was told that optically they are identical, but the German was more expensive but also smaller. I don't know if that was true and I can't recall if I compared the two lenses side by side. I bought the Canadian copy. Love it.

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The later Canadian (11815) and German (11810) versions of the Summilux 75/1.4 have the same size AFAIK but i have no experience with the 11810. I have no experience with the earlier 11814 (Canada) either but it has the same length of 80mm according to the Leica specs. The 11814 is slimmer and lighter due to the lack of built-in hood though. 

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I would imagine marketing people love when customers drool over Made in Germany, commands prestige and premium and sells like a hot cakes, brand loving Far Eastern markets and elsewhere cant get enough - to go with Mont Blanc fountain pens, premium Swiss mechanical watches and premium leather goods. Today, Canada is not involved in current Leica offering for general public, there may be collaboration going on but we are not told.   

 

So how about this, lot of Leica gear labelled "Made in Germany" is mostly put together in Portugal with finishing touches in Germany, legally correct but high percentage done by a Portuguese hand.

 

Note, lot of top end high tech stuff is manufactured in China, prime example Apple phones, tablets and computers.

The enormous psychological power of branding. My MP ALC works beautifully but I'd hoped it would come with a bottle of Fonseca.

 

8^(

s-a

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When I bought my M 75 lux back in the very late 90s I had the choice between a Canadian or German copy. I was told that optically they are identical, but the German was more expensive but also smaller. I don't know if that was true and I can't recall if I compared the two lenses side by side. I bought the Canadian copy. Love it.

The German was only a bit lighter due to some internal changes.

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When I bought my M 75 lux back in the very late 90s I had the choice between a Canadian or German copy.[...]

 

The 75mm Summilux versions were mechanically quite different, although I do not know if they were optically different. An interesting difference was their focusing activator. I have version 1 and it is just fine. I've no idea why Leica made two different versions. FWIW, each version's activating surface moves only forward/back, IOW, like the single tab.

 

75mm-summilux-differences.jpg

Edited by pico
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The 75mm Summilux versions were mechanically quite different, although I do not know if they were optically different. An interesting difference was their focusing activator. I have version 1 and it is just fine. I've no idea why Leica made two different versions. FWIW, each version's activating surface moves only forward/back, IOW, like the single tab.

 

75mm-summilux-differences.jpg

The German 75/1,4 was version 3. Similar to the Canadian version 2 but lighter.

 

The 3 versions share the same optical design.

 

Only the version 1 with the separate lens shade had that straight cam.

Edited by Leicaiste
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