Leica MP Golden Camera celebrates 60th anniversary of Chinese republic

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.

[KGB Posted Jan 25th 2010 8:59AM]

Do i get a free side order of fried rice and meat dumplings with that camera??

[cestridge Posted Jan 25th 2010 9:00AM]

they really couldnt put a golden lense cap on that??

[adamrice Posted Jan 25th 2010 10:08AM]

Ahh, irony. This will go great with my ruby-encrusted Long March commemorative pinky ring and my Great Leap Forward money clip.

I'm saving up to get my poodle a dog-limousine that is fueled by the tears of peasants next.

[Old fogie late bloomer Posted Jan 25th 2010 11:39AM]

I saw this and all I could think was...

"REALLY!?"

[Bad Beaver Posted Jan 25th 2010 1:43PM]

Gaudy. And you can't even run over pedestrians with it.

[Wwhat Posted Jan 25th 2010 2:20PM]

@Bad Beaver
Any idea how long the list of misdeeds and victims is of the US's policies since 1989 (when tiananmen happened)? You can round your estimate off with 8 zeros

[Bad Beaver Posted Jan 25th 2010 2:24PM]

@Wwhat

I'm not 'merikan. And even if I was, I still couldn't run over pedestrians with this Leica, and it would not be one bit less gaudy.

[tuzi Posted Jan 26th 2010 8:13PM]

If you’re familiar with Leica, they have a decade’s long tradition of producing commemorative and special edition camera’s. Whether you like this one or not, this is just another special release. You can see several other’s at http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/16/leica-m7-edition-hermes-drops-this-december-at-a-price-you-cant/ .

In regard to comments on Mainland China, we see a lot of xenophobic rhetoric. The US is not the center of the world. When you spend time in this region (including Singapore for example), you clearly see the decline of the US. If you have been fortunate to travel to different parts of China with Chinese friends (not as a tourist or business person), get out and meet the people, you will see and experience a country moving forward toward a vibrant new century. For decades, at the Village level, you will see elections and democratic values. But, Chinese (I’m generalizing) do not want an American democracy. As a European American with Chinese family in China, most have a better quality of middle class life than their counterparts in the US. Of course, every country has its problems, but I do not see anyone bringing up Western colonialism in China (see Opium Wars/ Hong Kong and UK for example), shoving Christianity down their throats (BTW some of my Chinese family have chosen Christianity and practice openly with no oppression.), and it goes on and on. I see no mention of the Japanese atrocities in China that are still not addressed by the Japanese government (and many of which the US and other Western countries swept under the carpet), US in China, Vietnam, Iraq, and the military takeover of Hawaii, as other examples. I see no mention of the discrimination against Asian’s in US, particularly the Chinese. I doubt that most of the US commenter’s have a clue how the Chinese were treated in the US and know anything about the Chinese Exclusion Act. Look it up, you’re learn something. Today, in the US you see Asian American groups continuing their fight for equality, and I have to deal with discrimination against my 2 Chinese daughters on a regular basis.