A few of the photography rumors sites have now reported that the owners of Leica are looking to sell a majority stake in the company, perhaps to a business entity in China. Is anybody really surprised?

For the past several years, we’ve seen numerous instances of co-branding, licensing the name, and an ever-diversifying portfolio of products with the once-elite logo on them. The company has an almost brand-new headquarters that, in and of itself, pretty much qualifies as a work of art. On top of it all, the “100th anniversary” celebration took place just last summer.

Could there be a better time to unload all these “optics” for every euro you can squeeze out of someone else’s deep pockets?

Never mind the fact that service requests resulting from sample variation and buggy firmware are backed up, and that the loyal customers whose blind faith helped to make the brand what it is have pretty much been thrown under the bus. It’s a luxury brand! With a logo that’s known and desired in every corner of the planet!

Well, not quite. Sensing a probable downhill run in the not-too-distant future, three months ago I ditched all of my Leica gear except for a big drawerful of adapters and other small accessories. Since then, I haven’t had much to write about on these pages because I’ve been enjoying photography, rather than letting myself continue to be seduced by a narrative that actually faded some time ago.

Who knows, maybe ten years from now, you’ll be able to pull your car up to the drive-thru window at a McLeica shop somewhere. And while you’re ordering, maybe you’ll get asked, “Sir, would you like a side of LV with that?”

R7/RF 100-500mm . . .