You know how Leica marks itself out with its typically
subdued matte black finishes and
old school designs? Well, in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, the camera company has decided to go a bit crazy and
punish reward us with this 24 carat gold-plated shooter. Limited to a run of 60, each hallmarked with a year between 1949 and 2009, the Golden Camera is encased in red calfskin, bears an inscription of Mao Zedong's favorite slogan, and sports a Summilux-M 50mm f/1.4 lens. To max out the gaudiness, you also get a wooden box to store your equipment in. Sold exclusively in mainland China, these will cost 199,900 Chinese Yuan ($29,300) each, though Leica is also bringing out limited edition M8.2 and D-Lux 4 models -- sans any precious metals -- for the more budget-conscious patriots out there. Check 'em out after the break, or hit the source link for even more.
posted January 25th 2010 2:56AM
i just pre-ordered BC2 what about you guyz ?
@owned66 Have this man arrested for crimes against our Imperial Government.
And then have him executed, his house and land burned, and his family imprisoned.
@owned66 um i did too but that has to be one of the most off topic first comments i have ever seen.
@TonyMontana2367
China owns you. Better not piss off your creditors..
@shogunmaster
War in Afghanistan and Iraq, partially funded by your Chinese overlords. And the Japanese technocracy. The United Kingdoms. The oil exporters. The Caribbean banking centers. Those Brazilian soccer stars. Your Mother Russia. Hong Kong underlords.
In that order.
@Teslanaut
And fine the family the cost of the bullets!
@onlymyrailgun
uh hong kong is part of china bro. that's like saying "hey the US funds you, then the UK funds you, then canada funds you. oh and then texas funds you."
@Kaitou KID
LOL I got my list from Wikipedia. Hong Kong is a separate economic entity I believe. And yes, Texas is a separate country from the rest of US.
@onlymyrailgun I think you are correct on it being a separate economic entity.
@onlymyrailgun
by the way, excellent response time
I tried to find out more through Google, but failed.
wow...
30,000 bones for one of the ugliest cameras in the world
what were they thinking?
@EI8HT
I would say that this is the ugliest camera in the world:
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/pentaxlx/Pentax_LX_Gold/index1.htm
Just lost a lot of respect for Leica. It's a bit sad a company would celebrate the anniversary of an authoritarian government.
@Yellow
Authoritarian or not, still a government.
@onlymyrailgun That's gotta be the stupidest thing I ever heard. There's more to being a government than guns.
@cain
My point is that authoritarian or not, even if it were still an imperial government, why should a company like Leica not celebrate their anniversary? Once they allow you to do business there, they are your government. And of course you would cash in on these opportunities. It shouldn't lower our opinion of the company. And, no, for those of you still living in the 60's, China is not really communist or socialist anymore, although it still has a lot of problems.
@Yellow The 60's called, they want their political views back.
@Yellow
While we in the US continue to feed off anti-Chinese propaganda, the Chinese government has managed to pull hundreds of millions of its people out of poverty in the past 20 years. Which is pretty much unprecedented.
Authoritarian as it may be, it is nowhere as secret, militarily pervasive around the world, and aristocratic as ours; for example, one of the functions of the over 700 overseas US military bases is to spy on emails, phone calls, etc. in the surrounding regions doing the same things the Chinese govt. does but on a worldwide scale; the president of China is an engineer who moved up in a meritocratic system, not a rich man who has to pander to large corporations and banks in order to even have a chance of being elected, and so on.
That said, this camera is a farce and has proven once again that Leica is no longer interested in competing for the professional photographer's business; instead, it is targeting the wealthy lawyers, doctors, and corrupt government officials of this world. Perhaps this could be attributed to the irrelevance of the likes of Zeiss, Voigtlander, and Canon in the digital rangefinder niche. Shame really, I was looking forward to an affordable rangefinder-type camera from Leica, but will most likely go with the Samsung NX10 or a Micro-4/3 camera now.
@santela Free speech? Freedom of information? Right to vote? Right to protest? No? Damn you 60s, why haven't you left China??
@Yellow Yellow where are you from? Pull your head out of your ass.
@bigcow05 for example, one of the functions of the over 700 overseas bigcow05 bases is to spy on emails, phone calls, etc. in the surrounding regions doing the same things the Chinese govt. does but on a worldwide scale; the president of China is an engineer who moved up in a meritocratic system, not a rich man who has to pander to large corporations and banks in order to even have a chance of being elected, and so on.
See? I can make up stuff on the internet too. Site your sources (if you have any).
@Brokinarrow
About US bases:
http://www.alternet.org/story/47998
"The U.S. government tries not to divulge any information about the bases we use to eavesdrop on global communications, or our nuclear deployments, which, as William Arkin, an authority on the subject, writes, "[have] violated its treaty obligations. The U.S. was lying to many of its closest allies, even in NATO, about its nuclear designs. Tens of thousands of nuclear weapons, hundreds of bases, and dozens of ships and submarines existed in a special secret world of their own with no rational military or even 'deterrence' justification.""
Meritocracy, which has been a part of China since 165 BC:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/opinion/04brooks.html?_r=2&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin
Hu Jintao Bio:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hu_Jintao
(right column)
@Brokinarrow
BTW, cite, not site.
@Yellow Yes but by your logic they can't really commemorate the anniversary of any country really, since every (wealthy) country has plenty of blood on their hands.
And while it's authoritarian, the average quality of life in China has probably improved the most of any nation on the planet in the last 60 years, so it's not like Leica is celebrating the bad parts. I suppose if you get the version of the Camera that coincides with the cultural revolution years it'd be kinda ironic.
China will grow larger
@xKNGx China will implode once it reaches population of 2 Billion. So in about a year or so.
@xKNGx
Lets have a look
The red lining unfolds into a flag
There is no such thing as a budget camera when it comes to Leica.
@cdf74dc9
+1
Cashing in on China's rise and so called Chinese nationalism, and most brazenly. Nothing really new here.
wtf? Leica is launching a bona fide model that looks like a cheap chinese knockoff (Hongqi, Red Flag 20,REAT WALL DF-4, Shanghai 58-I etc)??!
Whats next? Hasselblad releasing a model that looks like a Kiev 88 (the soviet Hassy copy) celebrating the October Revolution?
I liked Leica cameras up until very recently; thats right they have never been cheap; but $30K for a still camera is excessive; talk about income inequity. In a country where there are people dirt poor they are celebrating with this huh.... hm... how communist for the good of people LOL; WTF?
China is an interesting country; cracked out on coal with a strong economy (because they are rapidly growing like the US was after WWII; they are likewise thriving off of the Walmarting of America- the high cost of lower prices....
I agree this camera is ugly, but not just because of the way it looks!
Sad Leica, you have just pooped on your own name and your customers are going to respond!
@cosmicinglewood
You hit the nail on the head... I considered a Leica for my own 'thank you' gift.... not anymore.
@cosmicinglewood
leica is not the only one. you should say the samething to hasselblad
http://www.hasselbladusa.com/news/hasselblad-503cw-18-karat-gold-limited-edition.aspx
it looking so sexy ..republic day was luanch this camera i think...
Force Factor
http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=2236872
What better way to honor a communist (in theory) country than to create a camera that the proletariat will NEVER be able to afford. Karl is not pleased.
@jakeshdaddy To be fair, in China when you buy crazy expensive imported luxury goods like this a humongous portion of the purchase is taxes that go to support public services for the regular folks. Which is why fancy luxury cars in China usually cost a LOT more than fancy luxury cars in the U.S. whereas the cheap budget cars are similarly priced. Even if they're both assembled in China, an Audi gets slapped with very heavy taxes.
@jakeshdaddy Also for some reason China is like one of the few countries where Leica is like...uber respected enough that they could pull this off. I don't think they could ever get away with selling an "anniversary of the founding of the United States" version with red white and blue colors because most Americans would just wonder what the hell Leica has to do with the US. But while we had our own Kodak, China didn't and Leica has enough of a reputation there that this is probably one of the few markets where they can get away with this kind of gaudy cash-in.
I personally think it'd be pretty funny to rock one of these-blinging your 24K gold camera on a trip must be the most ridiculous thing.
"[T]he Golden Camera ...bears an inscription of Mao Zedong's favorite slogan..."
"The atom bomb is a paper tiger which the United States reactionaries use to scare people. It looks terrible, but in fact it isn't."
Mao Tse-Tung
This is the last time in my life I looked at Leica with appreciation and admiration. Along with Hasselblad. I am not going ever to spend a single cent on anything that smell Leica and I am ashamed that European company voluntarily did this. Too bad Panasonic is using their lenses... but there must be a way around. What a tragedy, what a shame.
Bravo, Leica. What a great idea to celebrate mankind greatest achievements. To help you out, next something closer to your home. Anniversary of the rise of Third Reich. Silver-plated shooter encased in human skin in SS-black, bears an inscription of Adolf Hitler's favorite slogan. Throw in a free copy of "Mein Kampf", and to max out the gaudiness pack everything in a box made of bones (humans or animals? your choice).
Irony beside: fuck you morons, whomever is behind that idea.
@machloja You forgot about the native americans. They should probably make a version with a bunch of indian bones and maybe a cool little teepee etching with flames and maybe another etching of smallpox infested blankets. yeah that would be an AWESOME version of the camera.
oh what's that? my comment totally ruined your portrayal of the world in black and white and US as good and everyone else as evil? my bad
@Kaitou KID haha, good points. Still, you can't deny that life in China aint as great as it is in the US right now. At least we have the right to talk bad about our government and demand reform. Try gettin away that over in China, lemme know how it goes...
@Kaitou KID Do you feel better about your self now that you can believe that you knocked another self-righteous American/westerner down a peg or two?
Seriously do you believe that those past wrong somehow puts the US on the same level of the Chinese government and their current regime of oppression? Don't get me wrong I'm in no way condemning, ignoring or minimizing what happened to the native peoples of North America (though not all of which was committed by what is now the US gov't); there are clear differences between between the two countries that are hard to ignore. Say what you will about the US, or believe whatever be it real or some crap you pulled of the web, but the there are freedoms that the US permits and guarantees that are simply not allowed in China. I know people like you will minimize freedom of speech, protest, religion etc., but these are real freedoms that people in the US enjoy and exercise even if foolishly. When you look at China these fundamental freedoms are limited or non-existent. One of the best modern examples is of course the Tienanmen Square incident, a protest that was brutally put down. Not only put down but actively denied and and events suppressed and minimized by said gov't (just try searching for it in china). Not to mention the daily suppression of free speech by the gov't and the "detaining" of people who disagree with the regime, or the gov't sponsored mistreatment, harassment, and massacre of Christians in the country.
While yes you can point to some misdeeds done by the US the big difference is they are not some secret or suppressed incident and is widely open to debate and criticism. The same cannot be said of China. Does that make the US good, well of course that can be debated but it does certainly make it far better.
@Brokinarrow
Yeah in the US you can talk bad, if you are willing to be tased that is, or thrown in quantanamo and tortured, but yeah long live freedom of speech, make sure you tell the EFF too and the ACLU, but use a proxy because their communication is monitored by the glorious homeland security people and fraternizing with them puts you on the terrorist watch list.
@thinkindependent
"massacre of Christians", yeah we now know your sources of 'information', and you ridicule people getting info from the internet? Yeah right.
@thinkindependent
You're right. China will never beat America when it comes to American standards.
I personally say we get an emperor and start a proper imperial dynasty, but I doubt the CIA would be nearly as willing to fund and train me as they do *certain other groups*.
Camera's still kinda ugly though, there's no denying that.
@meepmeep
Tiananmen Square.....Tiananmen Square.......