According to the latest
information from Leica Camera AG, the current production capacity for the Leica
M9 is 80 cameras per day which translates to less than 21 thousand cameras per
year. Availability of lenses has been
improved by increasing production from 1,000 to 3,000 lenses per month or 36
thousand per year.
These are impressive figures,
but how does this compare to other camera manufacturers? Unfortunately such figures are hard to come
by, but I have been able to obtain some information about Canon and Nikon.
Nikon recently announced that
they have reached the mark of 70 million SLR lenses made since they were first
introduced. That announcement came only
six months after they published the manufacture of 65 million lenses. That means Nikon produced 5 million lenses in
just 6 months or 10 million per year. No
such data was available for their cameras.
For Canon no such data is
available. However, they did publish the
total number of SLR cameras and lenses made since 1987. These average out to 2.1 million cameras and
2.9 million lenses per year. Current
production of cameras and lenses is substantially higher than these average
figures. As a matter of fact, currently
Canon makes more cameras and lenses than Nikon.
Taking the 10 million Nikon
figure for total annual lens production, in comparison to Leica, they make
almost 300 times the number of lenses per year.
That actually means that Nikon makes approximately the number of lenses
in one day that Leica makes in a whole year.
That is what mass production
allows a manufacturer to do. However,
mass production inevitably has to incorporate certain shortcuts. There is no way that Nikon or Canon or any
other company that mass produces their lenses (and cameras) can even come close
to the tolerance levels applied to Leica cameras and lenses. Ultimately it is this that sets Leica apart
from their competition, and this is also part of the reason why it is so
difficult for Leica to increase their production numbers.
Leica is all too often criticized
for their prices. However, contrary to
claims of being greedy or overcharging, these prices are the direct result of
their production methods. Their bench
made production is totally devoid of any assembly line work. All manufacturing and assembly steps are
carried out by individuals in individual steps with multiple checks and
rechecks. Only that way can the tight
tolerances be assured, and it is these tight tolerances that assure the
increased performance that we expect from Leica equipment. Unfortunately this is expensive.
It is ironic that people so
often ask for Leica equipment at “competitive” prices. If Leica were to compromise their production
methods to allow their equipment to be sold at such lower prices, we would get
equipment of performance levels as offered by other manufacturers. I for one am glad that this isn’t the case.
As the old adage goes, you
get what you pay for. Leica is a very
good example of that.
For more information on the production of Leica cameras and lenses got to:
In Memory of the LEITZ GLASS
LABORATORY
LEICA PRICES – JUSTIFIED?
OPTICAL GLASSES
MANUFACTURE AND PERFORMANCE
OF PHOTOGRAPHIC LENSES
LENS TESTS
These figures are amazing. I hope Leica never succumbs to mass production manufacturing.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately most consumers are woefully unaware of the differences or, how cameras are made in general. The bench made process that Leica uses throughout requires a lot of actual hand making. That alone sets them apart from almost the entire rest of the camera world. In addition, Leica applies substantially tighter tolerances across the board. I have reported on this elsewhere on this blog. This process not only is a lot more time consuming, it also results in noticeably higher production costs. Since Leica is not an electronics manufacturer, they have to obtain all electronics from different sources. Because of their much lower production numbers, the cost of these items is necessarily higher than what mass production manufacturers experience. This includes the sensors used in their cameras, especially the black and white only sensor in the M Monochrome. This sensor is not used by any other company.
DeleteThe hateful criticism I often experience in regard to Leica is for the most part based on ignorance and in a lot of cases most likely the result of the photographic equivalent of penis envy.
A point well made.
ReplyDelete