S$9,999 for a film camera?

Leonard Goh | Mar 26, 2008

If you have just too much dough to blow, why not consider getting a customized Leica M rangefinder? The creme de la creme of all cameras, it was revered by photojournalists for its stealthy and unobtrusive characteristics. Renowned street photographer Henri Cartier Bresson stood by his, even when the world was swamped by digital cameras.

Now, for a hefty price starting from S$7,650 (US$5,625), you can build your own camera from Leica. On its Web site, there is a page which will bring you through nine different configuration options. You start off with choosing which camera body you want the unit to be based on, and the rest of the options let you decide the color, type of rewind crank, engraving (if any) and even the material covering the unit. Note that certain options come at a price and these will add on to the cost. After placing your orders, a technician from the German company will assemble together some 1,300 parts.

I tinkered around with the options, and there you have it. A manual, film-based camera that cost S$9,999 (US$7,352.21). Mind you, this is just for the camera body. An additional lens from Leica would burn another hole in my already threadbare wallet.

Now excuse me while I join the queue to buy lottery tickets.

Filed under: Digital Cameras
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