Leica’s new $23,000 film camera is platinum-plated and destined for collector shelves

Leica is celebrating the 70th anniversary of the M rangefinder camera, but the most valuable gift it's making to mark the occasion is just for 250 rich people and costs $22,995. The ridiculously expensive Leica M Edition 70 set includes a platinum-plated Leica MA 35mm film camera with a Leicavit fast winder, a matching 50mm APO Summicron M f/2 lens, and a metal film container with a roll of black and white film.

Yes, the film container is also made of platinum, and yes, that is completely ridiculous.

This anniversary edition commemorates the market launch of the Leica M3 in 1954 as the first M camera. Leica goes to great lengths to honor the M3 and the brand's heritage as much as possible. In 2014, the Leica M Edition 60 did the same to celebrate the M3's 60th birthday, but this model was a little bolder (and more polarizing) and was the first digital M to essentially remove the rear LCD for filming. like experience. This “feature” became more readily available in standard editions such as the MD (Type 262), the M10-D and most recently the M11-D.

The new M Edition 70 seems much safer with its smaller production run and the new edition of the Leica MA film camera, which has been around since 2014. The real devil in the details here is the Leicavit, an old-fashioned accessory from the heyday of film rangefinders that has been extinct for years. It's essentially an alternative base plate for the camera that houses a hidden lever that allows you to advance the film with your left hand after a shot.

The classic Leicavit allowed users to fold down an alternative film advance lever. Strange, yes. But cool? Also yes.
Image: Leica camera

I've personally never used one, but the premise was that it was quicker and slightly more discreet than moving your right hand away from the slide to operate the normal advance lever with your thumb. I'm sure there's a reason why this wasn't a widely available accessory, but Leica fans rave about this nerdy stuff. (I'm obviously speaking/confessing from experience here.)

So perhaps the M Edition 70 really is a test to bring back the Leicavit as a standard accessory, just as the M60 served as a testbed for screenless digital cameras, or as the old M9 Titanium experimented with LED-lit frame lines. But one thing is for sure: the M Edition 70 is both beautiful and completely ridiculous. It's another chance for Leica to cash in on its rich whales, raking in nearly $6 million in revenue to fund its next quirky idea.

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