Analog M are a huge success : 5K units in 2023

[nicci78]

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https://phototrend.fr/2023/09/interview-dr-andreas-kaufmann-proprietaire-leica/
 

It is crazy 30% of all M produced in 2023 are M6 or MP ! 5000 units will be produced in 2023. 10x the production of 2015 when they almost gave up film. 
Long live to film.
Just try Kodak 250D and 500T you’ll be converted back to film. 

A translated excerpt : 

What do you think of the return of analog?

We are rather satisfied because we are still the only ones who can produce film cameras. In our factories, you can still see old machines dedicated to film cameras in operation. But in 2015, we thought of throwing everything away because we only produced 500 film cases per year. But there has been a good rebound since then and, in 2023, we will produce nearly 5,000 M6 and MP analog devices.

 

And how many cameras in all?

In the M digital range, I think it's 11 or 12,000 per year. As this is a high-priced camera, it is not very wise to opt for a larger production.

Edited October 22, 2023 by nicci78

[pcgarner]

Yes, something very reassuring about this. 

[williamj]

Very interesting. No specific mention of the M-A either. 

[nicci78]

M-A what ? 🤣

[nicci78]

7 hours ago, Al Brown said:

Hopefully they will hire additional quality control elves.

« You can either built one or control another, not both » 😌

dixit : a highly trained technician in Wetzlar. 

[Matlock]

11 hours ago, nicci78 said:

https://phototrend.fr/2023/09/interview-dr-andreas-kaufmann-proprietaire-leica/
 

It is crazy 30% of all M produced in 2023 are M6 or MP ! 5000 units will be produced in 2023. 10x the production of 2015 when they almost gave up film. 
Long live to film.
Just try Kodak 250D and 500T you’ll be converted back to film. 

A translated excerpt : 

What do you think of the return of analog?

We are rather satisfied because we are still the only ones who can produce film cameras. In our factories, you can still see old machines dedicated to film cameras in operation. But in 2015, we thought of throwing everything away because we only produced 500 film cases per year. But there has been a good rebound since then and, in 2023, we will produce nearly 5,000 M6 and MP analog devices.

 

And how many cameras in all?

In the M digital range, I think it's 11 or 12,000 per year. As this is a high-priced camera, it is not very wise to opt for a larger production.

This is all great news but in perspective Canon produced around 1.15 million cameras in a year (obviously none of them film).

[FrozenInTime]

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Buying one of the new film Ms is choosing not to buy a M11. 

I was also suspicious of the M.240 and did the same back then, skipping a digital generation.

[nicci78]

5 hours ago, Matlock said:

This is all great news but in perspective Canon produced around 1.15 million cameras in a year (obviously none of them film).

Who cares about Canon ? 
we are talking about 5K M6-MP vs 11-12K M11-M11 Monochrom. 
The ratio is incredible  

Futureproof M6 is certainly a better buy than futureless M11 😉

Edited October 23, 2023 by nicci78

[Matlock]

39 minutes ago, Al Brown said:

Utterly pointless comparison. Look at the size of Canon and compare it to Leica who has 1% non-smartphone digital camera market share.

Depends what you mean by pointless. There have been several posts complaining about Leica service and comparing it to Nikon, Sony, Canon etc. The main reason is that Leica has that 1% share and only a minuscule part of that 1% is for it's film cameras. It is a tribute to Leica that they have remained faithful to film users so I think the comparison highlights that faith. I wasn't trying to pick a fight as your reply would seem to imply.

[Matlock]

6 minutes ago, nicci78 said:

Who cares about Canon ? 
we are talking about 5K M6-MP vs 11-12K M11-M11 Monochrom. 
The ratio is incredible  

Futureproof M6 is certainly a better buy than futureless M11 😉

Well I do use Canon cameras (both film and digital) but I was really trying to point out what a great job Leica are doing by keeping faith with film.

[Matlock]

1 minute ago, Al Brown said:

No fights, of course, we are civilized savages. I was just refering to meaningless whataboutism.

I agree about the meaningless whataboutism however, regarding your reference to savages, the village in which I live is known locally as "Cannibal Island", how did you know? 😀

[nicci78]

56 minutes ago, Matlock said:

The main reason is that Leica has that 1% share and only a minuscule part of that 1% is for it's film cameras.

Film is way more than 1%. 
if you also read the interview of the director of Leica France, you‘ll learn that Leica best sellers are M and Q line up. SL is way behind and S is paused until mirrorless S come to see the light. 
So film cameras are a significant part of Leica sales. 

[Matlock]

18 minutes ago, nicci78 said:

Film is way more than 1%. 
if you also read the interview of the director of Leica France, you‘ll learn that Leica best sellers are M and Q line up. SL is way behind and S is paused until mirrorless S come to see the light. 
So film cameras are a significant part of Leica sales. 

You misunderstand me. Leica's total share of the worldwide camera market is 1%, I was not stating that film is 1% of Leica sales. Yes M and Q are the best sellers but film is a tiny part of that but well over 1%. Remember that M cameras are both digital and film but mainly digital.

[Mr.Prime]

Good to hear that M6 has been successful. It was about a year ago that it was announced and I decided to buy one as a Christmas present for myself 🙂    Unfortunately, they were not able to produce one for me, or tell me when I could get one.  I was on some kind of notification system from Leica UK website. There were none to be had it seemed, Then after Christmas their website notification system started to send emails - 'we have one in stock' - but it's gone before you can buy it. Then finally they said they had stock and I could buy a camera but by that time they raised prices significantly.  A kind of bait and switch? Here is a camera at a price you will accept but we won't have any for you. Now we have some and we're going to charge you more money. That kind of behaviour from Leica means that I didn't spend any money with Leica and probably will never do so. I will spend my money on film instead and enjoy my M4, M3, iiif, Rolleiflex and Minolta film cameras. Good that Leica keeps production going so that somebody will have parts when I need them. I guess if the market becomes big enough, the Chinese clone makers may join in, with their manufacturing base and lower labour costs there would be some possibilities.

 

Edited October 23, 2023 by Mr.Prime

[nicci78]

Pentax will join in 2024. It will be cheaper and hopefully their first compacts will lower used market prices. Just like brand new M6 put an end to the never ending price increased of used analog Ms. 

[ymc226]

I rediscovered the beauty of 120 negatives after getting rid of all my Hasselblad (203FE, 905 SWC) about 3 years ago.  Now back to film but with Rolleiflex TLRs 2.8Fs and 3.5Fs.  The 3.5F Planar is crazy sharp and shooting both Kodak Portra and Tri-X, I don't think I can go back to digital except for travel when I don't want to deal with the hassle of airport X ray/CT scanners.  I do use my Leica MPs but much less than the TLRs which are just as quiet, take only 12 shots so I get to develop the rolls more quickly and are just beautiful to scan.  Feeling the "mechanical" aspect that endeared me to film cameras is even stronger with the Rolleis than with my M3 or M2s.  Had to give up my darkroom for prints as water usage would have been too wasteful here in SoCal.

[250swb]

Comparing with Canon is a moot point anyway. Canon only produce digital cameras which are customarily ditched like all digital cameras each time a new one comes out and gradually fall to the bottom like dead fish in the ocean. Whereas Leica's new sales are throttled by their back catalogue which continues to thrive given both old and new Leica's are still only a fancy box that takes a film and mounts a lens. Put that into the perspective and Leica film camera sales are very, very healthy in terms of enthusiasm from the public. 

Edited October 23, 2023 by 250swb

[dpitt]

14 hours ago, Matlock said:

This is all great news but in perspective Canon produced around 1.15 million cameras in a year (obviously none of them film).

Do you happen to know how many of these Canon cameras where in there high end range? Let's say >$3000 retail price. Maybe that comparison would make more sense.

[Anbaric]

9 hours ago, nicci78 said:

Futureproof M6 is certainly a better buy than futureless M11 😉

I wish film were as futureproof as the cameras, especially if you shoot colour! Kodak seems to be the sole supplier of mainstream colour film. Fuji is either discontinued, indefinitely 'paused', old stock sold at inflated prices, or rebadged Kodak, at least where I live. That just leaves a few experimental films marketed to hipsters (hello Wolfen) and repurposed emulsions, like the aerial and cine-derived stuff.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Matlock]

9 hours ago, dpitt said:

Do you happen to know how many of these Canon cameras where in there high end range? Let's say >$3000 retail price. Maybe that comparison would make more sense.

I don't have any idea of the figures, I was just trying to indicate the difference in production levels of the various camera makers. Leica has a 1% share of the camera market of around 3.5millian. Film cameras make up around 3% of that 1% total so pretty small.