→ Amazon currently has one black Leica M 240 camera in stock.
→ A rare 1932 gold-plated Leica Luxus II camera failed to set a new record at a recent Hong Kong auction and sold for “only” $620,000.
→ New Leica store opened in Moscow.
→ The 2014 Leica calendar is now available.
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.
Here is a list of the Leica M and S lenses that will get a price increase on January 1st, 2014:
| Lens | Old price | New price |
| Tri-Elmar M 16-18-21 / f 4.0 ASPH | $5,350 | $5,450 |
| 18mm / f3.8 ASPH | $3,195 | $3,250 |
| 21mm / f1.4 ASPH | $7,250 | $7,650 |
| 24mm / f1.4 ASPH | $7,250 | $7,550 |
| 24mm / f3.8 ASPH | $2,595 | $2,650 |
| 28mm / f2.8 ASPH. M-Elmarit | $2,195 | $2,250 |
| 35mm / f2.0 ASPH Silver | $3,195 | $3,350 |
| 50mm / f1.4 ASPH Silver | $3,995 | $4,250 |
| 50mm / f2.0 | $2,295 | $2,350 |
| 50mm / f2.5 Black | $1,650 | $1,750 |
| 90mm / f2.5 Black | $1,950 | $2,150 |
| 90 mm/ f4 Macro-Elmar | $3,995 | $4,150 |
| 135mm / f3.4 APO | $3,650 | $3,850 |
| Vario-Elmar-S 1.3.5-5.6/30-90 ASPH | $10,900 | $11,400 |
| Summarit-S 1:2.5/35 ASPH | $6,750 | $6,950 |
Here is a list of Leica M lenses that are currently in stock at the Leica Store Miami:
Update: here is the list of lenses that will be impacted by this price increase.
Leica will have another price increase on January 1st, 2014 on selected M lenses. I will soon have the list of products that will be impacted. The good news is that almost all of the Leica M lenses are now in stock at B&H and Adorama.
Curious to know what the Leica prices were 27 years ago? See this post:
The Leica T (701) will be a new camera without a rangefinder. I am not sure if the Leica T will be an interchangeable lens camera (most likely) or it will have a fixed lens like the Sony RX1. The official announcement should be in the next few months. I am pretty sure that it will not have a Micro Four Thirds sensor (Leica executives have repeatedly said that they will not produce a MFT camera).
A new Leica camera that will be placed between the M and X lines has been rumored for years. After the last fiasco with UK media, in a recent interview with the Australian magazine Camera Leica’s CEO Alfred Schopf confirmed again that they will come up with a new compact system camera:
The New York Times reports that the one-of-a-kind Leica M 240 designed by Jony Ive and Marc Newson could reach an estimated $500,000 to $750,000 during the (RED) charity auction on November 23;
“According to a Leica spokesman, the Leica M (RED) camera took two years to design and build and is the only camera ever designed by Mr. Ive. It’s also, as far as I can tell, the only digital camera to cost more than half a million dollars. Even by Leica’s standards, this is an expensive camera.
The special-edition Leica camera is made of die-cast magnesium and anodized aluminum, and comes with a 50mm f2.0 lens.”
