This post is a companion to the latest 3DLANES podcast episode. The camera started as a precision artifact. German. Exclusive. Built by hand in the same tradition as Swiss watchmaking, meaning it was expensive, it was serious, and most people couldn’t touch it. Leica, Zeiss, Rollei. That was the holy trinity. And like a fine […]
The Globalization of the Camera industry: It Became Everybody’s Business Read More »
This post is a companion to the latest 3DLANES podcast episode. I got one of those LinkedIn digest emails. You know the ones: “what people are talking about today.” Usually I delete it. This one caught my eye: Honda reports its worst year ever. My first instinct, as a car person, was the obvious stuff.
Honda’s Worst Year Ever. Really? Read More »
This post is a companion to the latest 3DLANES podcast episode. Everything is digital now. And I think that is exactly why analog things keep coming back. Think about it. Manual transmission cars are not making a full comeback, but Cars & Coffee never went away. People are still reluctant to call an electric car
Is Film Photography Actually Struggling? Read More »
This post is a companion to the 3DLANES podcast episode. I was walking around Windup SF and something happened. It was not about a watch I wanted to buy, not about a brand I hadn’t seen before. It was more of a personal and “business” thought. A “wait, how does any of this make sense?”
The Trade Show Problem Nobody in Watches Wants to Talk About Read More »
This post is a companion to the latest 3DLANES podcast episode. Cosworth started in London in October 1958 by Mike Costin and Keith Duckworth, both former Lotus men, the company name is literally just their surnames stapled together. COStin. DuckWORTH. Cosworth. Duckworth apparently did not enjoy working at Lotus very much. He left after two
Cosworth: The Engine Company That Refuses to Die Read More »
This post is a companion to the latest 3DLANES podcast episode. IWC was founded in 1868 by an American. An engineer and watchmaker, Florentine Ariosto Jones, at 27 years of age, decided to combine American industrialization techniques with Swiss craftsmanship. As the former manager of E. Howard Watch and Clock Company in Boston, he observed
The IWC Schaffhausen Brand Analysis Read More »
This post is a companion to the latest 3DLANES podcast episode. Leica was born in Wetzlar, Germany. They built the first 35mm camera. Revenue in 24/25 sits at 596 million Euros, driven primarily by the photo and mobile segments. Six product lines: cameras, sports optics, lifestyle products, watches, projectors, and eyewear. The M System The
Leica Camera AG: Products, Audiences & Five Forces Analysis Read More »
This post is a companion to the latest 3DLANES podcast episode. The 911T is essentially the 912’s spiritual successor, Porsche’s way of keeping an entry point in the lineup without dragging the 911 name through the mud. Three iterations of the 911T exist, but we’re only covering two here. The idea was simple: give enthusiasts
A Solution Without a Problem This post is a companion to the latest 3DLANES podcast episode. The deadbeat seconds complication did not start as a luxury feature. It started as a fix. In 1675, English astronomer Richard Towneley introduced the deadbeat escapement to eliminate recoil in precision clocks at the Greenwich Observatory. Recoil created inconsistencies.
The Deadbeat Seconds Complication Read More »
This post accompanies the latest 3DLANES podcast episode discussing the Nikon FM2, its origins, its place in photography history, and the competitive landscape at the time of its introduction. The Nikon FM2 was positioned between enthusiast and professional-grade equipment, a flagship-level camera at a mid-tier price. It remained in production for 19 years (1982–2001), becoming
