By David Ponce

In the world of cameras, Leicas are the Ferraris. We don’t quite see why, as Ferraris have superior performance, and well… do Leica’s have superior performance? To be honest, we don’t know; we never tried one ourselves and don’t know enough about photography to weigh in either way. But we can assure you, they’re expensive, and the new Leica M is no exception. Clocking in at a chunky $8,000, it takes nothing but black and white pictures and has an 18-megapixel, full-frame CCD sensor, ISO range up to 10,000, SD-based storage, and a 2.5-inch display. They say a dedicated black and white sensor is better than it is to remove the colour after the fact; they argue that it will make for sharper, more detailed imaging. Maybe. There’s also news of a 50mm f2 Summicron lens to go along with this camera. Well, no… let’s put that another way. The lens is not included! And that particular lens? It’s $7,200.

Anyway, everything is up for pre-order and should be out later this year.

So… anyone out there ever buy a Leica? Was it… worth it? Or is this purely a status item?

[ Product page ] VIA [ Gizmodo ]

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