Strange to have a Leica article with so many little responses
Strange to have a Leica article with so many little responses
I really like Leica, but I don't have one yet.
I've born in canadia, but I live in Portugal and I feel like portuguese, and seems strange to me that people maybe are like "shamed" that their cameras aren't really german.
More than 90% of all Leica cameras are made in Portugal.
The text translated to english by google:
"In visits to Japan, Carlos Mira, 50, manager of Leica, working in the Portuguese branch of the brand, chooses not to use the company's pin on his lapel. He knows that looks of torn greed are inevitable , always attentive to the best technologies. Considered the Rolls Royce of cameras, has the distinction of being made almost entirely in Portugal. Almost ... was not just a small sensor placed in Germany. "Made in Germany sells," he acknowledges. Subject to setting the binoculars, but these, 100% Portuguese.
When the brothers Leitz made the decision, in the early 70th century. XX, to relocate part of production, Vila Nova de Famalicão presented itself as the ideal location. "They were influenced by the adage 'In Braga to pray, in Porto to work and Lisbon to live'. In Famalicão, they also had experience in precision machinery [including watches] Boa Regulatory and crafts, in textiles. " They started with five employees and perspective of being a half-dozen years. Today there are 650, half of which over 20 years of service, and know-how already exceeded that of the parent. This year, leave the facility opened in 1973 and moved to the new plant, 3 kilometers.
In the past, the parent company made several attempts to relocate to countries with labor-cheaper labor, but soon regretted it. "This will never be a mass production. We don't have robots, you need hands delicate parts to join 1200 pieces in a machine." Besides the constant developments of digital still making analog machines and respond to a growing market for nostalgia. "There is a cult in itself. I met a gentleman who claimed to have an altar of Leica at home and spent two years without speaking to a brother in law that made a scratch in a Leica."
They had, in 2011 the best year ever. When Carlos Mira heard on the radio that the government would cut off part of the Christmas bonus, decided to award a prize in November, to employees. "We have great respect for the workers, without them this was not possible."
The philosophy of rigor, discipline and quality of the Leica passes from generation to generation. Is Hugo Freitas, 36, two in the company, who says: "The Portuguese use a lot of words perhaps we'll see. In culture Leica or it is or it is not.""
