The Leica M custom made camera by Jony Ive and Marc Newson for (RED) sold for $1,805,000 at Sotheby’s charity auction in New York (hammer price with buyer’s premium). The camera was initially expected to reach $500,000 to $750,000. The (RED) auction at Sotheby’s raised a total of $26.2 million to fight AIDS in Africa.
Update – here is the translated press release:
Leica M for (RED)” auctioned most expensive digital camera in the world for 1.8 million U.S. dollars
Solms (ots) – the renowned auction house Sotheby’s in New York has been written on this Saturday evening Photography and auction history: the most expensive digital camera in the world, specially for the auction of charity “(RED)” designed Leica M, has for a record price of 1.8 million U.S. dollars changed hands. The design of this unique comes from the legendary designers Sir Jonathan Ive and Marc Newson. Was auctioned the “Leica M for (RED)” along with more than forty other exclusively designed objects in the (RED) Auction for the benefit of a charity fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in Africa. The bidder who ultimately won the contract for the camera remained anonymous.
Dr. Andreas Kaufmann, Chairman of the Board of Leica Camera AG, Solms, was highly pleased with the auction result: “Jony Ive and Marc Newson are two exceptional talents that we have our Leica M gladly entrusted The exceptional design of this camera and the myth of the brand. Leica have together contribute a record amount for the control of diseases to achieve in Africa. We are very proud to be part of this charity success. We hope that can continue successfully through this auction the fight against AIDS and other diseases and that the suffering of the population gets stronger in Africa in the public eye. ”
With the aid of the charity auction is for more than 30 years, the first time a generation growing up without AIDS. Currently going over 900 children a day come to the virus on the world. Daily leave for less than 30 cents to treat pregnant women to prevent mother-to-child transmission. By 2015, this number can be reduced to almost zero.
In collaboration with Leica Camera AG and on behalf of (RED), the designer Jony Ive and Marc Newson 561 models and over 1,000 prototype parts of the “Leica M for (RED)” have designed and manufactured to 85 working days. Body and lens were made of a special alloy. The Leica-specific leather trim was replaced by a laser-machined anodized aluminum enclosure with a finely textured texture. More than 21,000 hemispheres give the camera a whole new and unique aesthetics. The “Leica M for (RED)” is a full-frame CMOS sensor, a high-performance processor and the lens Leica APO-Summicron-M 1:2 / 50 mm ASPH.equipped.