“Apple’s lead designer Jonathan Ive will reportedly design a one-of-a-kind limited edition Leica M camera to be auctioned off for charity,” Sam Oliver reports for AppleInsider.
“Dr. Andreas Kaufmann, president of German camera maker Leica, said at a special event this week that a limited version of the new Leica M designed by Ive will be put up for auction, according to PetaPixel,” Oliver reports. “Only a single unit of the camera will ever be produced, he said.”
Oliver reports, “Further details on the camera, including the auction date or which charity will receive the money, were not given. But given the interest in Leica cameras and Apple products, it’s likely to fetch a large sum at auction.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: 50 grand, at least.
Uh, I’d triple MDN’s minimum guess. A single example?
It could be even much, much more expensive, if it is going to be unique unit.
Not for us mere mortals. Move along…
As a standard Leica M goes for $6,950. I too think that MDN is off by by probably an order of magnitude.
Can I preorder online? How many inches screen? Is it 3G or LTE? Does it get hot? How’s the battery going to be? Is there a cheaper Samsung nock off? If Steve was alive it would be nicer, better, more radical, life changing and snappier…
They may start it at 50 but I could see it going for well over 100..
Just think of all the rich people who would like to have a leica custom designed by Jonathan Ive himself.. and there will only be 1 of them. Expect many digits.
I hope Ive is able to have one made for himself as well; he deserves nice things. 🙂
Wonder if Samsung will try to copy it. . .
http://www.samsung.com/us/photography/digital-cameras
Will it be 4″?
The Leica M is already a defining work of functional art. Hope it gives Jonny the inspiration to do a proper Apple camera. One with software that doesn’t suck.
Just one unit? I don’t see how he’s going to be able to really ‘design’ or ‘redesign’ a camera properly for just one unit. Especially one that’s so well designed to begin with.
Style it maybe, but that’s not what Ive is usually about. Doesn’t this undo a lot of the hard work Ive and the rest of the design industry have done to show the world the real power of design is not simply in the styling?
Yeah but can it play Crysis?
apple should get into the camera market. there is a huge opportunity here. the adressable worldwide market is probably around 100 billion dollar big and revenue from cameras is actually growing despite the smartphone divergence trend. there are still a lot of people out there that want a dedicated camera. apple could some UI innovations to the table as well as get rid of the legacy terminology and make middle to highend cameras usable for mere mortals. apple could easily grab 10% of this market. another 10 billion dollar business. bigger then the ipod business.
Apple is in the camera market
People forget that the iPhone is the most used camera on Flickr. (Actually the top two – iP4 & 4S)
Precisely
That $100B is spread amongst all manner of cameras. Apple usually makes one to two versions that address a primary need.
The current iDevices produce good quality pictures that is ideal for the basic user. Since the phone is always with them, the camera is available all the time.
I agree with Breeze – Apple already have a solution. It helps sell their iDevices and brings in more utility that a stand alone camera, such as video chat.
Agreed. But I could use some photo extra accessories, like a telephoto or a bigger grip for steadier shots, that I could snap on and off.
Try amazon.com
Sir Jon is just a guy in the right place at the right time he isn’t that bright or innovative. I’m so sick of his godlike status in some people’s eyes,.. He is a so so designer, way to full of himself… Easily he could be replaces as well as the CEO. Steve was the cornerstone. Everyone else just a monkey doing their job.
Troll alert!
As a Leica owner and an Apple shareholder/customer, it’s nice to hear. What would be nicer is Leica working with Apple to make better digicams.
An Ive influenced Digilux 2 built around a 4/3rds sensor would be very nice.
The real question is will it blend?
There’s only one of these….
Dear god if they person who buys it blends it…… I will cry.
Samsung will mass produce it.