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For China's 60th anniversary, a gold-plated Leica

I doubt Leica would make a 24-carat gold-plated camera for my 60th anniversary, but they did for China.

Each one of the 60 limited-edition cameras costs 199,900 yuan (about $30,000), and is individually numbered from 1949 to 2009. The cameras, wrapped in red calfskin, say "Long Live the People's Republic of China" in red calligraphy and sport a Tiananmen Square pattern.

I'm pretty sure you're going to have to be someone pretty important (and in China) to get one of these, but if you've got 30 grand and a connection, Leica's … Read more

Originally posted at Crave

By Jason Chen
Topics:
Cameras
Tags:
Leica,
China

Photographer hawks T-shirts to fund Leica M9 purchase

The Leica M9 is possibly the most expensive 35mm full-frame camera on the market today with a hefty price tag of $8,183.39. But that hasn't stopped me from dreaming of owning one, though I'm pretty sure it'll remain just a dream for a long time to come.

Photographer Jarle Aasland wants the M9, too, but he's not simply sitting down and thinking about it like me. This shutterbug's set up a Web site called Leicadream to explain his cause and sell T-shirts to fund his fantasy camera. Each casual top costs between $22.… Read more

Fast, prime Micro Four Thirds lenses from Panasonic

The Micro Four Thirds universe gained two quality, fast-aperture, prime focal-length lenses Tuesday that go along with the new Lumix GF1 camera and its retro rangefinder styling cues: the Lumix G 20mm f1.7 ASPH and the Leica DG Macro-Elmarit 45mm f2.8 ASPH Mega O.I.S. As with the GF1 itself, they are a reminder of times when compact rangefinders with fast prime lenses ruled--and they're lenses photo purists will love.

Being in the Micro Four Thirds format, the Leica DG Macro-Elmarit 45mm f2.8 ASPH Mega O.I.S. is compact, at 2.46 inches in length and only 7.9 ounces.

It has a 35mm equivalent of 90mm, effectively making it a fast f2.8 90mm macro lens with full, life-size reproduction ability and a 6-inch closest focusing distance. There is a two-position focus limiter switch on the barrel for controlling the range of focus. The lens features a stepping motor in the auto focus drive system for smooth, silent AF operation while recording video.… Read more

Pentax president raves about Leica D-Lux 4

Most imaging companies' employees probably wouldn't be caught dead using their competitors' products, but it seems Ned Bunnell, president of Pentax Imaging (USA), thinks otherwise.

On his personal blog, he wrote about how impressed he was with the Leica D-Lux 4 (equivalent to the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3), and gave a short, positive review of this shooter. Bunnell commented that the "lens is sharp and distortion seems to be very well controlled."

His affection for a competitor's shooter garnered some pretty interesting comments from readers. Some people are baffled as to why the president of Pentax would be raving about Leica's products when he should be more focused on his company's direction. However, some Netizens think Bunnell is doing an excellent job by looking at the current market and trying to improve on it with future Pentax cameras. … Read more

Gadgettes 122: The crazy-talk episode

Wi-Fi paint? Bust warmer? Face slimming mask? Bandai telling women how to understand men? Why, that's just crazy talk! The Gadgettes are back in the saddle again, and this time, they ain't going anywhere anytime soon.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

EPISODE 122

My new toy! The Nespresso Essenza Automatic Espresso and Coffeemakers with Nespresso Aeroccino Milk Frother!

Perfect Pod Maker

Made-in-Japan Wi-Fi blocking paint

British Airways to allow in-flight texting

Computer newbs kick QWERTY to the curb

Thanko’s new plug-in bust warmer… whatever next?

Bandai helps women understand men

Japanese face slimmer will definitely not work as advertised… Read more

Safari Leica M8 goes for a mere $10,000

Leica has a reputation for making some of the world's finest cameras and lenses, as well as some of the most expensive shooters. Even now, its film-based rangefinder snapper, the M6, still costs approximately $1,500.

The German company's only digital rangefinder, the M8, has been given a makeover and a new price tag. The normal black or silver version of the M8 costs $6,500, but the luxury green iteration is going to set you back $10,000. With the ongoing recession, it's hard to see just who would splurge on such a premium camera.

However, … Read more

Limited-edition Leica D-Lux 4 on the way

Famed camera and optics maker Leica has announced that it will launch a limited-edition version of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 equivalent, the D-Lux 4, in January.

The collector's item will have a limited run of 10,000 and come in a silver-gray finish, instead of the usual black. But what makes it more exclusive would be its matching leather case, which its press release says will be in the same hue as the shooter.

At an earlier press event, Leica told us the retail price for the normal D-Lux 4 is $635.75, which is approximately $133.84 more … Read more

Leica M8 gets an update

Leica has released a firmware update to its M8 digital rangefinder camera. The firmware update, version 2.002, for both the M8 and M8.2, adds several improvements and corrections. New profiles have been added for the 6-bit coding for several new lenses, the 21mm f1.4, the 24mm f1.4, and the 24mm f3.8. It fixes the display of image numbering, the display of the fastest sync speed in the menu, and eliminated black frames that may have occurred in the Discreet mode. Also when Auto-ISO is used along with lens dependent setting of the slowest shutter speed, … Read more