Japan ‘s Panasonic Corporation and Germany’s Leica announced that they have reached an agreement for a new comprehensive business alliance called L² to develop cameras, lenses and imaging technology.
Both companies are part of the L-Mount Mirrorless alliance (along with Sigma and Leitz). Panasonic has loaned its camera technology to Leica.
However, the new partnership goes deeper, as it uses jointly developed technologies in its lens and camera products. While the L² brand will be featured in future marketing activities.
Through this collaboration, the two companies are jointly investing in new technologies that can be integrated into camera and lens products. Co-developed technologies are integrated into the products of Leica and Lumix to enhance the capabilities of their products.
He added, “Leica and Lumix are from now on using L² technology, which opens new possibilities for creative camera users, in their marketing activities in order to develop a long-term collaborative ecosystem.”
There is no information on when the fruits of this cooperation will be seen. However, it makes some sense. Panasonic tends to fall behind Canon, Sony and Nikon despite producing good cameras, especially for video.
Meanwhile, Leica has a good reputation for quality lenses, but gets a lot less attention for its mirrorless cameras because they’re mostly overpriced Panasonic models.
Panasonic and Leica Unveil Project L²
Through cooperation, Panasonic can earn some niche from Leica’s reputation for lens quality. While Leica has access to the technological know-how from Panasonic.
The L² project unites the strengths of the two brands to be a symbol of collaboration by bringing together the companies’ technologies and knowledge in the areas of camera products, new lenses and next-generation software, creating technologies and solutions that deliver new value in the new era.
The two companies have been cooperating since August 2000. Initially, Panasonic and Leica signed a cooperation agreement for digital, audio-visual equipment lenses. In 2001, they decided to cooperate in the digital camera sector as well.
It has since expanded its technology cooperation steadily. In 2018, the Mirrorless L-Mount Alliance was formed in collaboration with Sigma to use the L-mount standard developed by Leica for their own development. This allowed companies to offer cameras as well as optics with a lens mount.
