Andre de Winter

Andre de Winter ". . . (a great expert on design of lens mounts and bodies in the golden period of Leitz Midlands, Ontario between 1960 and 1980) . . ." Started to work at Leitz Canada Ltd. in the design department on the 17th. of March 1969 (directly under Dr. Mandler and Gerhard Bechmann). Designed most Leica-M (i.e. Noctilux in 1970), and Leica-R lenses as well as other non-civilian projects. Did the opto-mechanical design of 10 Panavision lenses in 1987. Transferred to Leica Camera AG in Solms in 1989 where he headed the opto-mechanical lens design department. Returned to Canada in 1999, and in 2000 left to work for Leupold & Stevens in Oregon, USA. In 2001, upon request from Lothar Kölsch, manager of the design department, and Alfred Hengst manager of the Sportsoptic department at Leica, joined Leica again in the Sportsoptic mechanical design department. Since 2007 upon Dr. Andreas Kaufmann's request, worked for CW-Sonderoptic-Wetzlar, designing the mechanics for the new Summilux cine lenses.

Source - José Manuel Serrano Esparza

Leica Camera AG Photographic Patents by Andre de Winter of Leun, Germany

• 1999 AUG 26 - CYLINDRICAL MOUNT FOR OPTICAL COMPONENTS OF A VARIABLE-POWER OBJECTIVE (of Penetang CA)
• 2004 FEB 04 - LENS MOUNT FOR VIEWFINDER CAMERAS (see image above}
• 2005 FEB 16 - INTERCHANGEABLE OBJECTIVE FOR INTEGRATED RANGEFINDER CAMERAS
• 2006 MAY 24 - RECTILINEAR GUIDE WHICH CAN BE SET WITHOUT PLAY