Leica cameras have always been a talking point when it comes to design – and now a company called Black DA has designed a really intriguing prototype that would turn your camera into the high-tech viewfinder of an actual Leica camera.
The Leica i9 camera case, which Black DA calls a “dream project”, proposed to combine the Leica camera’s looks and awesome lens with the ease of the iPhone 4, creating a case that the iPhone can slip into easily, and resemble an old 35mm camera.
If it goes into production, retail cost is looking like between $900-$1200, lasting up to 10 years. With iPhone designs changing more often than that, one wonders if this would ever really be a smart move for a consumer…
Their concept actually shows an independent camera body that doesn’t actually rely on the iPhone 4’s processor, instead using the 30-pin connector to transfer images to the iPhone for easy uploading to the cloud. That means a true optical zoom could be used, along with dedicated aperture and shutter dials.
The design, while very interesting, is of course dependent on getting the rubber stamp of approval from both Apple and Leica. What do you think? Would you buy it?