Leica M9 Titanium: Don’t take pictures, just frame the camera instead
Leica M9 Titanium. A snip at £19,800.
Well if you thought that Leicas were expensive already, you probably won’t be among the 500 people worldwide to buy the new special edition titanium M9 priced at a tempting £19,800.
From Leica’s website:
The exclusive special edition Leica M9 “Titanium” is the result of a collaboration with Walter de’Silva, the prominent automobile designer. Responsible for groundbreaking design concepts for the latest models from the Volkswagen Group, the chief designer and his Audi Design Team have re-interpreted the design of the LEICA M9 just as he envisaged it. The outcome is a unique camera with a new interpretation of the characteristic features of Leica rangefinder cameras, which lends precision engineering, unique style and solid titanium to extraordinary formal design. As a result, the LEICA M9 ‘Titanium’ is an especially desirable object for both Leica connoisseurs and aficionados of outstanding design. This special edition is strictly limited to just 500 cameras worldwide and is offered as a set together with a LEICA SUMMILUX-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH. lens, whose exterior metal components are also manufactured from solid titanium.
Leica gained its reputation for immaculately designed kit a long time ago – their rangefinders and lenses were so precisely made that they attracted a great many users both amateur and professional around the world. They also subsequently spawned a legion of collectors who were more interested in talking stats and comparing kit than in using the equipment to actually take photos. Beautifully made though this undeniably is, it’s odd to see a camera manufacturer so blatantly exploiting its following by producing a camera that is clearly not intended to be used. No doubt as chairman Andreas Kaufmann claims they will be sold in days – a tidy lump of revenue and a huge PR stunt that even I’ve managed to be sucked into. You have to wonder where it’s heading though – they still make some of the worlds best lenses, but their forays into digital imaging so far, including the M9, have been priced in a range to compete with top of the range DSLRs that outspec them completely. They have size on their side but there is little there to justify the cost.
This being the case, it’s clear that very little of the next generation of world class photography is going to be shot on a Leica – so I have a suggestion for them:
Given that nobody is going to actually use the camera – it doesn’t actually need to be able to take photographs. They could branch out into other Leica objects – Leica kettles, toasters and microwaves; Leica televisions; Leica wallets… In fact, write Leica on anything, think of a number between 5 and 10 and multiply the price by that and you have a winner.
Artist's impression of the Likea Toaster - priced at £1475
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