Leica Mini = Jony Ives' One Off Leica M as announced September 2012?

[doolittle]

This post in this threadmade my brain go click:

What all the folks have missed:

1) the camera box stays actually between the M and X cameras, not the camera itself

2) the announcement is made on the next day of Apple WWDC 2013 conference

3) the camera naming pattern reflects that of Apple products (mini, micro, nano, pico, femto,etc)

So my 5 cents go to a module that slaps M lenses on one side, and i-phones on the other!

:angel:

The whole teaser advert has Apple written all over it. 'New family member' and the above.

So a one off product, not the start of a new product line.
Either having Ios7 as its menu system, or as suggested above using a bolt on iPhone to achieve the same? Maybe monochrome which would go with the rumoured ios7 design direction?

Lots of disappointed people come June 11th so or the beginnings of a deeper Leica/Apple collaboration?

 

[bensyverson]

This is incredibly unlikely on so many levels... Starting with the fact that the LCD and button assembly (the parts the iPhone would replace) are among the cheapest components of a digital M.

...and what happens the very next year when Apple releases a new iPhone, and it no longer fits into the Leica iPhone contraption? I guess you throw that $4000 gadget in the trash.

There is simply no way Leica would dilute their brand by making a $4000 iPhone accessory. Can you imagine the outcry and mockery that would create?

 

[Roger Hicks]

This is incredibly unlikely on so many levels... Starting with the fact that the LCD and button assembly (the parts the iPhone would replace) are among the cheapest components of a digital M.

...and what happens the very next year when Apple releases a new iPhone, and it no longer fits into the Leica iPhone contraption? I guess you throw that $4000 gadget in the trash.

There is simply no way Leica would dilute their brand by making a $4000 iPhone accessory. Can you imagine the outcry and mockery that would create?

Apple gets away with it...

Cheers,

R.

 

[doolittle]

I probably should have referenced the original Jony Ives designing a one of a kind Leica M for a charity auction story

It would be a one off, sold to the highest bidder, item. So practicalities wouldn't really matter.

My thinking is how would Jony Ives redesign a design classic (the Leica M rangefinder in general). Minor tinkering wouldn't improve it. Plus he would want an Apple slant on it. So go for the something completely different. Think full frame Ricoh GXR M module with Apple iPhone to provide the user input and screen. Probably still have an SD card. Blue tooth and/or wifi connection maybe too.

If it were a production model (which I am saying it won't be), you could offer a different LCD front end. People have been crying on for this sort of thing for a long time, (camera with changeable OS) it's not an idea I came up with. I like the idea though.

 

[Spicy]

This really doesn't need to be a new thread


It's also not mini in any way

 

[bensyverson]

If that Jony Ive Leica is ever produced (and that's a huge if), it will be a 240 with cosmetic changes, like the Hermes edition. I don't think Apple would release Ive to do industrial design for another company, even for charity.

If he did redesign the M from scratch, it would take its design cues from Dieter Rams, not iPhone cases.

 

[doolittle]

This really doesn't need to be a new thread


It's also not mini in any way

The existing threads are everybody's wish list for what they want the Leica Mini to be. This thread is asking the question what if the Leica Mini isn't a new product line , but just the one off Leica announced in September 2012.

What the exact product turns out to be is conjecture, so you are probably right on my guess. That the teaser advert strongly suggests Apple was my point.

Hence mini as in iPad mini, going along with nano (as in iPod Nano). Mini being a smaller form factor than the current M etc.

So basically I am pretty sure we won't be seeing a new product from Leica in the shops going with the announcement.

 

[thegman]

There is simply no way Leica would dilute their brand by making a $4000 iPhone accessory. Can you imagine the outcry and mockery that would create?

They dilute their brand by re-branding Panasonic cameras. Nothing against the Panasonic cameras, I quite like them in fact, but Leica they ain't.