Chrome Lens Availability?

[wstotler]

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Hi. I've noticed on the Leica site that the only new lenses available in chrome seem to be:

 

35mm Summicron

50mm Summilux

50mm Summicron

50mm Elmarit

90mm Macro-Elmar-M

 

Does anyone know if Leica will be releasing more chrome lens types in the future?

 

Is this a trend thing with Leica? (E.g., they stop making chrome lenses for a while and then start making them again?)

 

Thanks!

Will

 

P.S. I really *like* the chrome lenses for both their look and feel--weight and all.

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[James Mitchell]

I've recently seen the 21 Elmarit ASPH, 35 Summilux ASPH and 24 Elmarit ASPH in chrome for sale from dealers. Chrome lenses seem easier to find right now than black.

[James Mitchell]

Also, the 90 'cron in chrome.

[Artichoke]

if you have not noticed, very few Leica lenses are available in chrome or black ...B&H has many that are out of stock and back ordered

from what I have been told by a highly regarded long time Leica dealer, the folks in Solms are overwhelmed by the demand for Leica products with the reception the M8 has enjoyed

they are not hiring more workers and continue production at a slow pace ...they feel this surge in demand will ease & anticipate in 6 months time catching up with lens production

I also like the feel/look of chrome, but this is a minor matter for me ...I suspect Leica will be making mainly black lenses as most favor them

[James Mitchell]

Lenses are available. You just have to look for them and want them. Look at all dealer sites daily. You'll get what you want before too long.

[AGeoJO]

Yup, as James already pointed out the 90 cron is available in chrome and I believe, in titanium even. I love chrome lenses on a chrome body which I have but when I used a chrome 50mm cron on my M6, it didn't look all that appealing, at least to me.

[rvaubel]

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if you have not noticed, very few Leica lenses are available in chrome or black ...B&H has many that are out of stock and back ordered

from what I have been told by a highly regarded long time Leica dealer, the folks in Solms are overwhelmed by the demand for Leica products with the reception the M8 has enjoyed

they are not hiring more workers and continue production at a slow pace ...they feel this surge in demand will ease & anticipate in 6 months time catching up with lens production

I also like the feel/look of chrome, but this is a minor matter for me ...I suspect Leica will be making mainly black lenses as most favor them

 

Labor laws in Germany, France and many other European countries make it nearly impossible to lay off workers for economic reasons i.e. there is no business . So the converse of that is a real hesitation to hire workers when you are extra busy. If Leica was to hire extra workers to fill a temporary demand, they would be stuck with them permanently. That is why the unemployment rate in Europe is twice that of the United States. Employment is a one way street, once hired never fired.

 

Rex

[adan]

Well, I won't make this into a socio-economic discussion (that's what Barnack's Bar is for) but in the newest LFI, the Leica CEO (Steve Lee) says he has hired back 20-30 former Leica employees, and is looking for a new factory site (he would NOT confirm or deny Wetzlar) since the Solms plant won't handle the growth he's driving for.

 

Leica has - de-emphasized - chrome lenses a couple of times over the years. Once about 1970, then brought them back increasingly in the 90s, and then said they were dropping them again during the 2005 financial crisis. Not clear to me whether they have re-instated them or whether the chrome lenses available now are just pre-2005 stock.

 

Lee also said (paraphrase) that he was happy to build and sell something if there was a market, so if demand for chrome lenses is there, I'd expect them to return yet again.