Elite Traveler Spring 2022

etr li at ve eler SPRING 2022 57

Clockwise from left Assembly of range fi nder components; inspection of the camera shutter; connecting the brass top plate to the camera body; examining the camera sensor and electronics

accomplish this tedious but all-important task: It is all about human sensitivity and pride in craftsmanship. Today, Leica’s incredibly avid followers have helped to build the brand to the point where its world includes eponymous awards, magazines, galleries, global boutiques, and even a Leica photography academy. Much like walking the hallowed halls of the fi nest watch brands, walking the halls of Leica is an enlightening journey through the company’s commitment to quality, hand artisanship, exclusivity and a perfect end product that keeps customers coming back — even when that camera and lens carry a fi ve- fi gure price tag.

both cutting edge and the most superior on the market. This requires the fi nest glass, advanced cutting and heating processes, inventive concepts about coatings and the transference of light, and more. Many of the steps involved in making a lens are performed in rooms that are airtight so no pesky dust particles can wreak havoc, and there is even a special department where professionals hand-lacquer the coatings on the edges of each and every lens. In another department, specialists hand-check the smoothness of the manual focus of each lens to ensure it o ff ers the proper feel. If it isn’t correct, it is dismantled and returned to production. There is no machine that can

Every Leica camera goes through at least 17 individual steps before being hand-assembled. Those steps run the gamut from calibrating the sensors to adapting the mechanical shutter and aligning the complex mechanical range fi nder (made of 100 individual parts alone) so it is accurate to a single micrometer. No fewer than a thousand parts comprise a Leica camera both inside and out, and the brand uses only the fi nest materials, from the inner components to the outer metals and even superb hand-a ffi xed leather. Additionally, at every step of the way, quality control is paramount. It is not enough, though, that the cameras are perfectly hand-built. Leica insists its lenses also be