After the Leica X1 Black Embossed Ostrich Limited Edition, the M9 will get the ostrich leather treatment (btw, this is not real ostrich leather).
The details:
Second edition of Gunter Osterloh’s “Leica M: Advanced Photo School” is now available for pre-order on Amazon:
This is the book description on the publisher’s website:
“The ultimate Leica guide-written by the company’s top technical expert-now includes the Leica MP. This classic source contains a goldmine of technical information and insider knowledge, and covers Leica’s famed lenses plus every film model from the M1 through the MP-along with schematic diagrams and explanations of metering, focusing, flash systems, film advance, and more.”
I guess digital M will not be covered (or they just used the description form the previous edition).
The old, first edition of the book is no longer available:
Since the introduction of the Leica M9 on 09.09.09, I have seen only two different limited editions of the M9: the first one was for Amateur Photographer magazine and the second one was on display in Tokyo.
This is the Leica M9 Hermès Limited Edition – probably a custom made piece, not related to the Titanium Leica M9 that will be released for Photokina next week.
I received a clarification from Leica regarding the Leica X1 Black Embossed Ostrich Limited Edition camera that was released in Japan last week and specifically the comment from PETA regarding the use of ostrich leather:
“I just wanted to let you know that this product is not made from real ostrich leather – it is an ‘ostrich effect’. We have never used ostrich leather on our products, and we have now confirmed this to the PETA organisation.”
Time to update my previous list of Leica expectation for Photokina. The folowing three products will be released for sure:
The rest is still unclear. The big question mark is still the mythical R-lens solution (or maybe a new Leica EVIL system camera?) – nobody has seen it, nobody has any real proof that it really exists, except that email Leica sent few days ago.
Expect announcements to start the day before Photokina, or on the first day of Photokina (September 21st).
I will continue to update this list if I get other reliable information in the next few days.
Based on previous release patterns, a new Leica D-Lux 5 is pretty much guaranteed to be released for Photokina. In addition, Leica is excepted to introduce a second Panasonic based camera with a fixed lens. The rumor is that this camera will be a high-end model, but there is no reference which Panasonic version will be used as a base. Looking at the current 2010 Panasonic camera line-up, potential candidates are the DMC-FZ100K and DMC-FZ40K models which could turn out be the successor to the Leica V-Lux 1.
