Leica Store Philippines celebrates its first anniversary

MANILA. Leica Store Philippines celebrates its first anniversary with the launch of a new photo gallery and the new Leica SL camera. It is a month of triple celebrations for the premium German brand, Leica Camera in the Philippines. 

It was the same time last year when Leica Camera, the legendary German camera and sport optics manufacturer with over 160 years of heritage, opened its doors in Manila, Philippines. Since then, cameras that are designed after its founder Oskar Barnack’s philosophy of versatility, excellence and picture quality have become accessible to Filipino photo journalists, hobbyists and enthusiasts alike.

We believe that there’s more than meets the eye. There are stories and certain types of beauty that can only be recognized once they’re zoomed in or viewed from the lens—and it is what constantly drives Leica to innovate,” said Ivan Yao, Managing Director of Lucerne. “We are very happy to share this passion in photography with the Filipinos and being in Manila for a year now is indeed a great milestone,” he added.

Managing Director of Leica Camera Asia Pacific, Sunil Kaul says, “101 years of photographic history at Leica stands for generations of scientists and precision engineers who were never satisfied with anything that was only just tolerable. It had to be the best. German precision engineering and a worldwide ambassador for ‘Made in Germany’, Leica cameras attained the status of coveted collectors pieces and status symbols. I send only my best congratulations to Lucerne on an excellent job in providing a destination for photography enthusiasts to exchange and share their stores.

To celebrate the first year anniversary of Leica Store Philippines, the company proudly unveils the Leica Gallery. For the initial salvo, the gallery will feature Fade Into Light— a travel photography series by AP Murillo and Raul Echivarre, that perfectly captures the act of gathering fish in Currimao, Ilocos Norte.

Taking the celebration of art and photography to greater heights, the event will also coincide with the launch of the new LEICA SL. A mirrorless system camera that sets new standards in terms of speed, picture quality and versatility.

The vision behind Fade Into Light

Memories can be written or photographed, but not all are preserved for eternity. Some are ignored or often unnoticed, such as the seemingly mundane act of fishing using a net called Daklis— a long narrow, floating net mean to sieve the shallows for fish. 

Raul Echivarre

AP Murillo

After chancing upon this activity in 2008, AP Murillo and Raul Echivarre have chosen to bring life to this overlooked subject through photography. Five years later, the works of these two photographers converge to form a series of hidden gems that a passing eye would have never caught.

About Fade Into Light

The title refers to a series of professions that are slowly waning into irrelevance. The first act of the exhibit focuses the spotlight on the heroic fishermen who want to give their children an entirely different future—something that no longer involves nets and long days in the sea.  

Fade Into Light is a body of work that chooses to celebrate the beauty of an honest day’s work. It is a nod to the hard workers who have one way or another been part of a chain that has brought food to our table; and who are now in the process of embracing new tomorrows along with the demands of time.

Photography for a cause

Helping the residents of Currimao, Ilocos Norte prepare for a brighter future ahead, Leica Gallery’s Fade Into Light will have the artists sell their masterpiece for a cause. Proceeds will support the education of the fishermen’s children through the non-profit organization, Sitio Remedios Heritage Corporation.

A survey conducted in the said barangay showed that only 5% of the population afforded to go to college.  To boost this figure, Sitio Remedios Heritage Corporation currently subsidizes the education of 25 and nine of them will graduate from college this academic year.

Funds that sustain this vision come from the operations of Sitio Remedios, a small bed and breakfast destination by the shores of the west Philippine Sea. Through this establishment, fisher folk and their wives also get to learn some housekeeping and hospitality skills.

Leica Camera on capturing the unforgettable moments

Creative director AP Murillo and management consultant Raul Echivarre, who are both members of the Camera Club of the Philippines, found the Leica M as an instrumental tool in achieving their vision for this project. “While its size and weight has been a factor in choosing this system, what really sets it apart from other compact systems is its ability to enable us to use rangefinder focusing,” said Murillo.

Leica gladly presents a new addition to their very impressive portfolio of cameras—the Leica SL. It features an electronic viewfinder that utilizes EyeRes technology. With a latency time below the threshold of perception, an impressive resolution of 4.4 million pixels and a magnification reminiscent of a medium format camera, this electronic viewfinder offers an entirely new visual experience and numerous advantages: the final image is visible in the viewfinder before the shutter release is pressed, which enables optimum control over the final picture in any situation.

“The Leica RF system, paired with its high quality lenses, makes it a very irresistible proposition. RF focusing surprisingly yields very sharp results almost as if the images were manually focused. To use a different system is something that is unthinkable ever since we shifted to this 5 years ago,” added Echivarre.

Taking the quality of photos to a whole new level, Leica gladly presents a new addition to their very impressive portfolio of cameras—the Leica SL. It features an electronic viewfinder that utilizes EyeRes technology. With a latency time below the threshold of perception, an impressive resolution of 4.4 million pixels and a magnification reminiscent of a medium format camera, this electronic viewfinder offers an entirely new visual experience and numerous advantages: the final image is visible in the viewfinder before the shutter release is pressed, which enables optimum control over the final picture in any situation.

The Leica SL also has the high-performance Maestro II series processor that allows photographers to capture even the fastest-moving objects. Meanwhile, the 24 MP CMOS full-frame sensor guarantees impressive dynamic range, excellent contrast rendition, exceptional sharpness, the highest resolution, and noise-free images in almost all lighting conditions.

More than a professional still-picture camera with video recording capability, the Leica SL distinguishes itself as a fully fledged video camera. With its sensor and processor, the camera enables the production of professional videos in cinematic (4K) resolution.

“With a new camera in line, a gallery with inspiring artists and visions, we at Leica are very sanguine about celebrating more colorful years here in the Philippines,” said Edith Dychiao, General Manager of Leica Store Philippines.

Leica Store Philippines is located at the Lower Ground Floor, Greenbelt 5, Makati City. For more information, visit http://www.leica-camera.com/.

For Media inquiries, please contact:

Leica Store Philippines, Marketing Head

Sharllene Ramos | Direct Line: +632 790 3908 | sharllene@lucerneluxe.com

About Leica Camera

With a long heritage of over 165 years in quality German engineering Leica hand-crafts the world’s finest cameras, the world’s most brilliant lenses and sport optic tools. We capture and preserve memorable moments for the world with customer-orientated, inspirational, premium solutions. Leica helps transform vision into personal creative fulfilment, in many cases nurturing a fervent passion for expression that spans the decades.  

Leica Camera has been in the frontline of photojournalism and related activities be it the Oskar Barnack Award for high quality reportage photography or presenting photographs taken by international photographers through its galleries that offer access to life’s hidden stories. In Germany, we build the world’s finest cameras and nurture the true, iconic soul of photography.

About Leica Camera Asia Pacific

Leica Camera Asia Pacific started operations in Singapore in March 2011. Led by Managing Director Sunil Kaul, emerging and developing markets such as Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and Philippines contributes to annual sales and growth to the premium German technical luxury brand in Asia Pacific.

About Leica Store Philippines

Leica Store Philippines is the official distributor and retailer of Leica Camera products in the Philippines. The store is located at Lower Ground Floor, Greenbelt 5, Ayala Center, Makati City. For more inquiries, please contact +632 729 5567.

(press release)