Leica relies on a new manufacturing process for camera lenses

Wetzlar. If you want to process glass into a lens, you have to grind it. Little has changed since the first telescopes in the 17th century - whether in glasses, telescopes or camera lenses. However, Leica Camera AG, founded in 1869 as a manufacturer of microscopes, has recently started using a process that breaks with this tradition.

In a new production line at the Wetzlar location, employees process glass blanks into lenses: the material is pressed into molds made of the hard metal tungsten carbide. At 700 degrees and under high pressure, the glass slowly takes on the aspherical shape that the engineers calculated on the computer.

The first product to fully utilize the technology is the Noctilux M-35, a fast lens. It has been on sale since the end of January, for around 9,000 euros. It is significantly lighter and more compact than the previous version, without sacrificing light intensity, reports Jan-Helge Staasmeyer, head of tool production: “We are making the most of what we can do physically.”

Price and standards are typical for Leica. The brand stands for compact cameras with housings made of leather and metal - and for an image aesthetic that photo enthusiasts are looking for: high levels of detail, precise color reproduction and the characteristic blur in the background. However, nostalgia alone is not enough: in order to maintain this claim, the manufacturer has to constantly innovate technologically. Especially at a time when the smartphone has become the most important camera for many people.

Nobody knows this better than Andreas Kaufmann. He joined Leica in 2004 with his investment company ACM and saved the company from bankruptcy in 2005. The majority owner and chairman of the supervisory board says: “You had to develop the right products so that the brand had meaning.” This requires “technological leaps” from time to time.