Where is X1 made?

[elansprint72]

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Definitive answer?

[earleygallery]

That's a really ugly base plate! Is it possible to buy a plain chromed plate to fit over it? If not a Luigi case will be essential for any self respecting X1 user.

[Mark2]

my guess is that most of the parts are made in China. These days a lot of Japanese cameras are made in China, shipped back to japan and assembled there. Its stamped Made in Japan.

 

Doesn't really matter where its made afterall its a Leica

[Krauthead]

Pure guessing as to where it is made. As for China origin I certainly hope that I don't have a CHI-COMM Leica. That would be a horror and a huge disappointment.

[elansprint72]

...........

 

Doesn't really matter where its made afterall its a Leica

 

Cough.................. welcome to the forum.

[bill]

Pure guessing as to where it is made. As for China origin I certainly hope that I don't have a CHI-COMM Leica. That would be a horror and a huge disappointment.

 

Why?

[rob_x2004]

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Thats a cracker, who snuck that in:eek:?

[Krauthead]

Why?

 

Because then the X1 would be Chinese Junque.

 

The second reason is because China makes shoddy merchandise.

Here in the US, they are flooding us with 10 billion t-shirts per year.

[eduardoho]

The glasswork is German made, final assembly, calibrations to spec's and quality control done in Germany (Solms?). All electronic inner works & optical electric-mechanic done in Japan, pre-assembled and shipped to Germany. Leica is hot there in Japan, they got a huge Japanese fan club, there was extensive coverage of the Leica trio introduction in the Japanese photography magazines. The Japanese news media emphasized the German "engineering" and Japanese manufacturing "skill" created these marvelous jewels. I could not find whether it was done by a brand name manufacturer or third party (Chinese) assembler/supplier, which is the vogue these days in Japan. Leica GeoSystems & Leica MicroSystem operates a very state of the art OEM plant in Xiamen, and Leica Camera AG is soon to open a technologically advanced plant in Shanghai. The Chinese working class is rapidly achieving standards that is the envy of the industrialized world. There is basis why Leica has confidence in the quality of work achieved there, and the reason to make commitment to invest in so many state of art OEM plants in China. In a report released in 2009, Rudolf Spiller, CEO reports that 36.6% of Leica Camera AG's total global sales were realized in the Asian market, so the trend is indicative that Leica will be made in China.

[eduardoho]

FYI: Leica future is seriously committed in China. The soon to be built, the world's fourth largest, the first super steel box girder suspension bridge, the Jiangyin Bridge, spanning more than ONE KILOMETER over the Yangtze River which construction project, will be utilizing exclusive geodedic surveying equipment by Leica GeoSystem.

[andybarton]

Because then the X1 would be Chinese Junque.

 

The second reason is because China makes shoddy merchandise.

Here in the US, they are flooding us with 10 billion t-shirts per year.

 

The Chinese make fine quality products and every home in the West (and most of the world) is full of Chinese products. Even Krauthead's.

 

If _every_ American wants to buy 33 t-shirts per year each, someone will gladly make them for them.

 

This ridiculous notion that Chinese goods are shoddy has no place in modern society, or on this forum, IMHO.

[xabbu16]

...

This ridiculous notion that Chinese goods are shoddy has no place in modern society, or on this forum, IMHO.

 

totally agree !!!

[Krauthead]

The Chinese make fine quality products and every home in the West (and most of the world) is full of Chinese products. Even Krauthead's.

 

If _every_ American wants to buy 33 t-shirts per year each, someone will gladly make them for them.

 

This ridiculous notion that Chinese goods are shoddy has no place in modern society, or on this forum, IMHO.

 

Hello Sir,

 

I am new here so I will read and listen foremost. Sometimes I will post.

I am not familiar with the ethos and political bent here on this forum so I will continue to read posts and absorb the atmosphere here.

 

However, holding me to a clearly untrue and non factual politically correct standard about

quality manufacturing in China is not the place to start. I am experienced in this area for many years and have and use "so-called" quality engineered items from China for 10 or more years. None of it is of international standard.

 

This is not only said by me. It is said by anyone who has tried to have a technically precise item manufactured in China. It is said every day in the "Financial Times" (UK)

paper.

 

There is no tradition of precision camera manufacture in China. And there will be no tradition of quality camera manufacture in China for many decades. (until apparently

Leica Camera AG methods are ingrained into the work force).

 

So I reject the ideas of the posters who set up a false standard of etiquette about this subject.

[andybarton]

But your statement that Chinese products are shoddy is patently not true. Nothing politically correct about it, just a statement of fact. If you have a political problem with China, then that's not relevant to the quality of their products.

 

I am typing this on an iPhone, made in China, in front of an iMac, made in China. Neither of these products is shoddy. There are dozens of other examples in my home, as I am sure there are in yours.

[Digitom]

The answer is easy:

 

SOMLS.

GERMANY.

 

From the German website:

"Nie war es einfacher mit einer Leica zu fotografieren. Eine echte Leica "Made in Germany".

Never it was easier to take photos with a Leica. A real Leica "Made in Germany".

 

End of Discussion :D

[SJP]

So which Chinese company is the equivalent of Apple, Nokia. Leica or HP or whatever? The Chinese economy is doing fime in terms of growth as they have a disadvantage & therefore plenty of headroom. Also contrary to popular belief it is mainly internal growth and internal market. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that but even a short stay in China will leave an impression of 90%. The furniture in the hotel rooms look more or less OK but is not comfortable, same for the electrical appliances even in the multi ***** hotels. The soap is packaged in plastic that does not like to tear & requires a Swiss army knife to open, same applies to chips/crisps/spicy chicken feet...

 

One of the companies we visited told us that some of their Chinese suppliers had the lowest price but also just dumped all their production regardless of quality - so sorting was required which turned the price advantage into a severe disadvantage. End of contract.

 

China is a major force to be reckoned with but it is not a miracle economy - it is just as flawed as all the other ones are.

[elansprint72]

The answer is easy:

 

SOMLS.

GERMANY.

 

From the German website:

"Nie war es einfacher mit einer Leica zu fotografieren. Eine echte Leica "Made in Germany".

Never it was easier to take photos with a Leica. A real Leica "Made in Germany".

 

End of Discussion :D

 

Not quite.

 

In the English language there is a considerable difference in meaning between the word "made" and the word "assembled", this does not seem to be the case in the German language (upon which I am far from being an expert). I went though this at some considerable length 15 years ago when negotiating a major engineering contract; we discovered that their very large and complex machines consisted of parts from Germany, Japan, UK, France, USA....... and quite possibly Pago-Pago Land too.

The contention of our German supplier was that, because the equipment was ASSEMBLED in Germany, it was MADE in Germany. They really could not see the difference; as it happened, they were not awarded the contract.

In what we are obliged to refer to on the web as "UK English" the expression "Made in Germany" means that every single component was actually made from scratch in Germany and those parts were then assembled in Germany.

 

So, back to the original question.

[eduardoho]

Gentlemen, gentlemen...please hold on. Yes, all of your statements are true, the products which you have mentioned perhaps did not meet your respective expectations, but you as the contracting agency it is then up to you to demand for the standards that you expected them to meet. You raise the bar of excellence and make them come to your expectations, not the other around. I am sure that the hyper geeks at the Leica skunkworks will not dare to sacrifice standards for sake of mediocrity nor cost, that the sacred criteria of the DIN standards are not only to be met, but exceeded.

[elansprint72]

Gentlemen, gentlemen...please hold on. Yes, all of your statements are true, the products which you have mentioned perhaps did not meet your respective expectations, but you as the contracting agency it is then up to you to demand for the standards that you expected them to meet. You raise the bar of excellence and make them come to your expectations, not the other around. I am sure that the hyper geeks at the Leica skunkworks will not dare to sacrifice standards for sake of mediocrity nor cost, that the sacred criteria of the DIN standards are not only to be met, but exceeded.

 

 

Welcome to the forum.

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Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[eduardoho]

The answer is easy:

 

SOMLS.

GERMANY.

 

From the German website:

"Nie war es einfacher mit einer Leica zu fotografieren. Eine echte Leica "Made in Germany".

Never it was easier to take photos with a Leica. A real Leica "Made in Germany".

 

End of Discussion :D

With all my respect...absolutely NO SIR...X1 definitely got Japanese guts, we know that at minimum, its sensor is the Sony APS-C CMO. Unfortunately I got entangled in the Japanese usage of KANJI words and the idiomatic KANA, so I don't know for certainty if the other two new models were also outsourced or not, i.e. the M9 & S2. I failed to find any mention whether a brand name manufacturer worked in conjunction with Leica, or this in turn was sourced out to a third party (Chinese) OEM/supplier, which the brand manufacturers do themselves these days anyway. Japanese journalist/critics are extraordinarily accurate with their articles. Besides the lion share of the 36.6% of all global sales for Leica Camera AG in 2009 was realized in Japan & China. The Asians are fanatical about their passion for Leica photographic equipment, akin to a cult sort of, so I do believe in the factual validity of what was written by the Japanese/Chinese camera critics, i.e. X1 is made of Asian/Japanese parts, pre-assembled and shipped to Solms. Leica Camera AG launched the trio just like a new automobile was introduced, it was a very big event in Japan & China. They also introduced a 30K!!!! gold and red MP (it is really heinous looking!!!!!!) celebrating Chairman Mao Ze- Dong's 60th anniversary triumphant victory of the Red Revolution in conjunction of a dLux4 Limited Edition with a engraving of The Great Hall of the People where the Chinese National Congress is held. Leica found a new partner bedmate to sleep with: AND it is not any of the European countries nor the US...but Red China!....