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Summilux 35mm Pre-ASPH lens/box mismatch


Ecar

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I just found (yet another...) 'Made in Germany' 35/1.4 v2 (11870).

S/N is 3433XXX, which indicates that its birth date was sometime in 1987 if I'm not mistaken.

It comes in its original box, with matching serial on the sticker.

 

Interestingly, however, the writing on the box says 'Made in Canada'.

 

I know it was some kind of a transition period for Leica, with parts from Canada being sent back to Germany, but it's the first time I see such a lens/box mismatch.

 

Out of curiosity, a quick question for the experts here: have you seen this before?

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I have a similar situatuion : Elmarit 28 1st type, Wetzlar, with "Made in Canada / Fabrique au Canada" box... and the Elmarit 28 1st was a mixed Canadian/German item like the last Summilux 35 (and your lens belongs to the timeframe of the switch Ontario to Wetzlar)

 

Imho, the logical reason is one : I don't think Leitz had an in-house cardboard Printing/manufacturing dept. ...boxes were outsourced somewhere, and being a rather "cheap" component, they were ordered in rather big batches, delivered in advance to some central warehouse... in modern manufacturing Language, box is not a "just in time" component... the "economical batch" of boxes was determined not strictly dependent on the planned batches of lenses (which for both Elmarit 28 and Summilux 35 were NOT big batches) : the switch from one factory to the other for the manufacturing of a complete lens was surely a much more critical process... the "last mile" of feeding the manufacturing line with boxes was accomplished using the boxes available in the warehouse, and this brought to some mismatches (intentional or not, but anyway "un-managed" , as a minor issue)

Edited by luigi bertolotti
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I just found (yet another...) 'Made in Germany' 35/1.4 v2 (11870).
S/N is 3433XXX, which indicates that its birth date was sometime in 1987 if I'm not mistaken.
It comes in its original box, with matching serial on the sticker.
 
Interestingly, however, the writing on the box says 'Made in Canada'.

 

 

What is the printing on the lens? Canada or Germany?

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I have a similar situatuion : Elmarit 28 1st type, Wetzlar, with "Made in Canada / Fabrique au Canada" box... and the Elmarit 28 1st was a mixed Canadian/German item like the last Summilux 35 (and your lens belongs to the timeframe of the switch Ontario to Wetzlar)

 

Imho, the logical reason is one : I don't think Leitz had an in-house cardboard Printing/manufacturing dept. ...boxes were outsourced somewhere, and being a rather "cheap" component, they were ordered in rather big batches, delivered in advance to some central warehouse... in modern manufacturing Language, box is not a "just in time" component... the "economical batch" of boxes was determined not strictly dependent on the planned batches of lenses (which for both Elmarit 28 and Summilux 35 were NOT big batches) : the switch from one factory to the other for the manufacturing of a complete lens was surely a much more critical process... the "last mile" of feeding the manufacturing line with boxes was accomplished using the boxes available in the warehouse, and this brought to some mismatches (intentional or not, but anyway "un-managed" , as a minor issue)

 

Grazie, Luigi. I think you may be right. Or perhaps they were moving production from Canada to Germany at the time, had spare boxes lying around and decided to ship them along? 

 

What is the printing on the lens? Canada or Germany?

 

'Made in Germany'. Else it wouldn't be so unusual, I guess. And the sticker with the S/N is perfect, not like it's been taken from a box and attached to another.

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Grazie, Luigi. I think you may be right. Or perhaps they were moving production from Canada to Germany at the time, had spare boxes lying around and decided to ship them along? 

 

 

Yes... your hipotesis, at the end, is quite similar to mine... all a matter of "availability at warehouse"... for people that works (like me) around manufacturing concerns, is a typical situation : imagine that you (production manager) have already shifted manufacturing to Wetzlar... Canada has still 50/100 "Canada boxes"... you have ordered to your provider a significant batch of "German boxes" (3000 with a certain scheduling ? ... see in our Wiki the planned batches of Summilux for 1987/88/89) but the first delivery hasn't yet been made, and you have some orders to fulfill : what do you do ? Call Ontario and ask them "send me xx boxes, please".

Edited by luigi bertolotti
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Yes... your hipotesis, at the end, is quite similar to mine... all a matter of "availability at warehouse"... for people that works (like me) around manufacturing concerns, is a typical situation : imagine that you (production manager) have already shifted manufacturing to Wetzlar... Canada has still 50/100 "Canada boxes"... you have ordered to your provider a significant batch of "German boxes" (3000 ? see in our Wiki the planned batches of Summilux for 1987/88/89) but the first delivery hasn't yet been made, and you have some orders to fulfill : what do you do ? Call Ontario and ask them "send me xx boxes, please".

 

Indeed. I suppose 30 years ago people were more relaxed about country of origin regulations and labeling...

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Indeed. I suppose 30 years ago people were more relaxed about country of origin regulations and labeling...

That's a good point : probably TODAY such a delivery scope, with a  not so clear "country of origin" statement, could be even illegal... (*) :rolleyes:  globalization has made world more and more complex... <_<  

 

(*) This year I bought a pair of new ski gloves : a typical Austrian brand... and label with a clear "made in Vietnam"... what if should they had been presented in a fine box with "made in Austria" written onto, with the "made in Vietnam" gloves inside ? :p  

Edited by luigi bertolotti
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  • 2 years later...

I'm now planning to sell the lens that prompted this thread in the first place and was looking at eBay to get an indication of current market prices. Interestingly,  I found another one of those oddities - identical to mine (serial numbers are only about 100 units apart) i.e., Made in Germany with matching serial number on Canadian box - that was sold a couple of weeks ago:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Leica-Summilux-M-35-mm-f-1-4-MADE-IN-GERMANY-11870-pre-asph-with-box-2/114326097715?hash=item1a9e5dcf33:g:kY4AAOSw8nte0tVD

Edited by Ecar
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