 So, we're here at Leica and we're checking the Leica mount, no I'm checking, it's the L mount, right? Yes. Is it because of Leica? The L mount alliance, yeah. So the L mount is created by Leica and has now been announced that Leica is coordinating with Sigma and Panasonic. Leica is the licensor of the L mount and there will now be, as has already been announced by Panasonic, cameras from Panasonic that use the L mount which will be compatible with Leica's L mount lenses and there will be, of course, then lenses from Sigma also using the L mount. These are our full frame lenses that are already compatible with our Leica SL which you see here. This is the new 35mm f2 sumacron SL lens that will be coming out in the near future and we have already a variety of both zoom and prime lenses for the L mount. We started the L mount in 2014 with the Leica T so that was an APS-C system and we were already building it for the future because it's a mount that could work for both APS-C and full frame. So when the Leica SL was released it has a full frame sensor and same lens mount so we have already a lineup of APS-C lenses for the L mount and a lineup of full frame lenses for the L mount. So it's a great collaboration that allows all customers from all companies to benefit. It's really, you know, we see it as more choice is better for the customer. So is there, because you say there's APS-C, does APS-C lens fit on a full frame camera? Yes, you can take our TL lenses and put them on to the SL. The SL will automatically crop to APS-C size and that will allow you to use it not at full resolution on the SL but you still take full advantage of the APS-C lens on the full frame camera. But this alliance is a full frame alliance but maybe it opens up the potential for an APS-C also. Yeah, it can lead to also APS-C lenses as well. APS-C cameras even. Possibly. Yeah, I can't say. I don't know. Ultimately, it leads to a lot of options because the L mount is such a flexible and robust lens mount. So Leica has, let's say, a top expert in lens optics and all that stuff, a German company. Yes, of course. And these lenses are made in Germany, yes. This one, for example, made in Germany, but for example there's some very cool Leica branded lenses on the Micro Four Thirds, but they're cheaper but that's maybe not made in Germany, right? Yeah, they're not made in Germany. They have to adhere to Leica's level of quality control and testing. Those lenses have been being made for quite some time now because that's just along with Leica's long history of collaboration with Panasonic and partnership with Panasonic. So the L mount alliance really just takes that to a new level but also brings Sigma into the fold. Which is exciting to work with, it's not a competitor, Sigma? Well, you know, the companies are allied now in an alliance but ultimately we still are competitors, you know, which is that now it gives the customer more options. Which is good for everybody in the alliance. Exactly, yes. Right? Because maybe you can even have some kind of deals where you say I'll take care of these kinds of lenses, you do those, you know, we don't have to necessarily compete on exactly the same specs. Well, there actually are restrictions as to how you can coordinate but ultimately what it really means is that Leica can focus on what Leica does best, Sigma can focus on what Sigma does best and Panasonic can focus on what they do best and our customers, their customers and all of them have all the same options, right? So if there's a kind of lens that Leica typically wouldn't make, you know, maybe Sigma makes it, maybe Panasonic makes it and then our customers, their customers have that option. Or you know, maybe you have a customer that is a Panasonic customer, now they have the option of Leica lenses for their camera, you know, for native autofocus support. So do you have autofocus in that one? Yes, this is full autofocus system. All of them? Yes, yeah, it's a full autofocus mountain system. So you designed this mount, what was the considerations with Leica heads? Is it a perfect size? Is it perfect everything? Yeah, so the idea is that the L mount from the beginning was designed to have a wide diameter and shallow flange distance. So that way you can adapt just about any lens to it. We can already adapt M rangefinder lenses to it. We can already adapt almost any Leica lens to it. And of course going forward, there's opportunities to adapt even all kinds of other lenses. So it's a very, very much like a universal format and this will allow it to be really the most versatile lens mount in the world. So again, all the customers really win. But there are like new full frame mirrorless launch at the show from Nikon and Canon. Any of them a little bit bigger or like each one is slightly different. There's some considerations in one and the other. I guess maybe the calculation here is the best one in the market or like with the exact size and everything? Well everyone has their own sizing but it was unbiased like engineers to right from the start have what they felt is the optimal size and dimensions. Future proof. So because it's supposed to last for a long time, sometimes mounts last for a very long time. Right. And anyone that knows Leica knows that Leica is an investment for in a lot of cases a lifetime investment. You know there are people that shoot with Leica lenses that they have from decades ago and they're still compatible with a lot of our latest cameras. And again with an SL or just the L mount you can adapt all of those lenses too. So it's you know not uncommon for someone to invest in a Leica lens to use for a very very long time. So the same philosophy is brought to the L mount in the future proofing. I have a Leica from the 60s. My father got it in the 60s so maybe it's still compatible. Yeah I can pretty much guarantee you that that lens you have or multiple lenses you have could be adapted to the L mount. So there's a lot of other things that are exciting about this alliance. New cameras, video, are you doing a lot of video with your SL right now? Yeah the SL is very capable dual purpose stills and video camera. Again very similar to the S in terms of its operation. Very intuitive, four button control, again customizable. And yeah this can do Cine 4K as well as Full HD even slow motion 120 frame per second video recording. No crop. It crops for the 4K to super 35 and then 1080 is the full frame. So how long time ago was this released? This was released end of 2015. So and can we look open here? Oh yeah dual card slots, dual card slots, SD cards, SD UHS, UHS 2 for the primary card slot. Alright but so this is going to be very active in the next few months. There's going to be lots of stuff happening. Did you announce any number of lenses that will come? Yeah so we have a road map, the 35 this lens was already announced a little bit ago along with a 50mm F2 Sumercon for the SL for the L mount and we also at Photokina 2018 have also announced three more Sumercon SL lenses that will come a 28mm, 24mm and 21mm. All Sumercon SL lenses are apochromatic and all the new ones even the wide angles will be apochromatic. So these are really really high performance lenses with really great autofocus and again because they're for SL and now for really any L mount camera but we build our SL lenses to be weather sealed so they're meant to be rugged, meant to be under a professional load and do anything, really go anywhere, do anything. But there's some kind of talk about you know those lenses being the ones that you have thus far are four or five, six thousand dollars right? Well like it builds and manufactures lenses, cameras and everything really always to be the best. We do things kind of our way which is always top level manufacturing, high quality materials right and quality craftsmanship. We do a lot of hand assembly and we make the majority of our products in Germany so with that comes a premium price but again as we're discussing it's meant for a long term investment and it's feature proof so you can know that you're getting one of if not the best lenses around and you know that it'll keep doing its job for you for a very very long time. But any chance there might be some cheaper ones from Leica or you're not saying? I can't comment on future products. Alright but looking forward to this alliance it's going to be very exciting to see what's going to come out of that. Some exciting new camera, the Panasonic camera looks great, Sigma said they would do a camera also with Vovian so it's going to be a great new ecosystem right there. The more options the better.