Leica Camera AG is a German company that manufactures cameras, optical lenses, photographic lenses, binoculars, and rifle scopes. The company was founded by Ernst Leitz in 1869, in Wetzlar, Germany. The name Leica is derived from the first three letters of the founder's surname and the first two of the word camera: lei-ca.
In 1986, the Leitz company changed its name to Leica and moved its factory from Wetzlar to the nearby town of Solms.
