Jump to content
🇩🇪 Neu: Leica SL3 Reporter ×
🇺🇸🇬🇧 New: Leica SL3 Reporter ×

Portugal versions Leica Lens

rsolomon

By rsolomon
in Leica M Lenses

 Share

Recommended Posts

Anbaric

Anbaric

Posted
Posted (edited)

Advertisement (gone after registration)

11 minutes ago, jdlaing said:

This is a pic of a lens sold as and marketed as made in Portugal.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

That rather messes things up for the collector wanting to get hold of a 'rare Portugal version'! Do they print the nominal country of origin on the box or something?

Edited by Anbaric
  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites
  • Replies 44
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Posts

jaapv
jaapv

The only reason for this is to get around USA tariffs on German products. Everything but the engraving is identical on both versions. It only indicates the place where the lens is boxed.

earleygallery
earleygallery

The lenses made in Portugal have different coatings due to the warmer sunnier climate than in Germany - they have a 'cooler' look to help tone down the bright warm sunshine whereas the German lenses a

Jeff S
Jeff S

Indeed... https://m.facebook.com/permalink.php?id=122732467780429&story_fbid=3579329848787323   Jeff

Posted Images

Pixeleater

Pixeleater

Posted
Posted (edited)

The product number in this pic is 11891, the Portugal version is 11716. BH Video has this image on their product page for both versions. You select the German or Portugal version to set the price but the product images do not change.

 

Edited by Pixeleater
Link to post
Share on other sites
hdmesa

hdmesa

Posted
Posted
55 minutes ago, Anbaric said:

That rather messes things up for the collector wanting to get hold of a 'rare Portugal version'! Do they print the nominal country of origin on the box or something?

They do have Made in Portugal engraved on the lens body, or at least the 50 black chrome I tried did. It's also on the box. Returned it for poor performance at MFD and stiff/heavy focusing ring and bought the German version, which was perfect. For the 50 black chrome, the Portugal version also only has "Leica Camera Wetzlar" printed prominently on the outside of the lens hood, whereas the German version has "Leica Camera Wetzlar Made in Germany" printed there. The text of the German version on the hood fills up the space between the press tabs, but the Portugal version with less text leaves it centered between the tabs – problem with that is to get the hood window in the correct position, the text is noticeably off-center. Since the text on the German version fills up the space, it doesn't look as odd.

Anyway, my Portugal issues with the black chrome were probably just a fluke since the 50 Summicron-M Portugal I also tried was perfect.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites
RayD28

RayD28

Posted
Posted

It's been a long time since I studied these matters but in the USA manufacturers could ship all the parts to another country and once assembled have the finished product shipped back to the USA and labeled Made in America.  The savings were huge.  All-in assembling labor at $25 per hours vs $5 per our outside the USA.  

Does anyone know if and how much cheaper Portuguese labor costs are vs Germany?

Link to post
Share on other sites
jaeger

jaeger

Posted
Posted
38 minutes ago, RayD28 said:

It's been a long time since I studied these matters but in the USA manufacturers could ship all the parts to another country and once assembled have the finished product shipped back to the USA and labeled Made in America.  The savings were huge.  All-in assembling labor at $25 per hours vs $5 per our outside the USA.  

Does anyone know if and how much cheaper Portuguese labor costs are vs Germany?

I believe it was the tariff that matters more than labor cost, but I read it somewhere that recently the tariff has removed.

Link to post
Share on other sites
logan2z

logan2z

Posted
Posted
38 minutes ago, jaeger said:

I believe it was the tariff that matters more than labor cost, but I read it somewhere that recently the tariff has removed.

I haven't read that.  So, does that mean that the prices of German-made Leica lenses are coming down? ;)

  • Thanks 1
Link to post
Share on other sites
earleygallery

earleygallery

Posted
Posted

Advertisement (gone after registration)

The lenses made in Portugal have different coatings due to the warmer sunnier climate than in Germany - they have a 'cooler' look to help tone down the bright warm sunshine whereas the German lenses are made to produce warm images to compensate for the cooler light.

Also fewer quality control errors as the staff canteen in Portugal only serves wine by the glass whereas in Wetzlar it is those huge glasses of strong German beer.

  • Haha 5
Link to post
Share on other sites
Jeff S

Jeff S

Posted
Posted (edited)
4 hours ago, logan2z said:

I haven't read that.  So, does that mean that the prices of German-made Leica lenses are coming down? ;)

Quite the opposite: soon after the tariff suspension, Leica announced their April 1 price increases.

Jeff

Edited by Jeff S
Link to post
Share on other sites
logan2z

logan2z

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, Jeff S said:

Quite the opposite: soon after the tariff suspension, Leica announced their April 1 price increases.

Jeff

I know, I was being facetious.  I was pretty confident that the prices wouldn't drop if the tariff was removed - if, in fact, it has been removed.  Kind of hard to justify the tariff-based price increase and the continued existence of the Made-in-Portugal lenses if the tariff has been removed, however.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Jeff S

Jeff S

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, logan2z said:

I know, I was being facetious.  I was pretty confident that the prices wouldn't drop if the tariff was removed - if, in fact, it has been removed.  Kind of hard to justify the tariff-based price increase and the continued existence of the Made-in-Portugal lenses if the tariff has been removed, however.

Leica has cited currency exchange rates.  We’ll never know the full financial, operational and marketing basis for this or other actions.  As long as the products sell...

Jeff

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites
jdlaing

jdlaing

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, logan2z said:

I know, I was being facetious.  I was pretty confident that the prices wouldn't drop if the tariff was removed - if, in fact, it has been removed.  Kind of hard to justify the tariff-based price increase and the continued existence of the Made-in-Portugal lenses if the tariff has been removed, however.

I believe it’s still in effect and not suspended.

Link to post
Share on other sites
RMF

RMF

Posted
Posted (edited)

Side note, the Leica M.08 Cine line comes from the Portugal factory (as per Karbe).  Sill these M Portugal lenses must not be very popular here as no one has posted a pic of one.

Edited by RMF
Link to post
Share on other sites
logan2z

logan2z

Posted
Posted (edited)
50 minutes ago, RMF said:

Sill these M Portugal lenses must not be very popular here as no one has posted a pic of one.

I'd be surprised if they were selling well.  I don't think the price difference is significant enough (eg. $200 in the case of the Summicron 50mm) to change someone's buying decision. 

Edited by logan2z
Link to post
Share on other sites
Jeff S

Jeff S

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Al Brown said:

My initial comment was a reminder about the pointless "Made in Canada" debate of many Leica purists, stating that "Made in Portugal" is their new topic. At no point was I implying anything about the Portugal Plant being "new" lol. I have actually visited the plant just north of Porto in the small industrial community of Ribeirão.
No need for shrug emojis, they are for pumping egos.

It was an emoji signifying nihilism, to address your comment. Not my sentiment.  I think we should stop here, as neither of us has succeeded in conveying what we intended.

Jeff

 

Edited by Jeff S
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...