It seems like Hasselblad finally noticed that Leica was lending their name to Panasonic-made cameras and people were actually willing to buy them. So, Hasselblad has teamed up with Sony, put a new "skin" on the Sony NEX-7 and is calling it the Hasselblad Lunar. You can even get it with carved wooden grips! And gold plating! And the cost? Only a bit under $6000! Of course, you can get the Sony version, the NEX-7, for $1100, but it won't say Hasselblad on it, will it? So there! As Dr. Sheldon Cooper would say, "Bazinga!"
On a sort of serious note, I can't decide if the design of the Lunar is really cool or really ugly. It kind of reminds me of some of Konica's cameras from the 1990s, like the Aiborg here. I couldn't decide then what I felt about this camera either! Ugly or cool? I was strangely attracted to this one and still regret not picking one up just for the sake of its oddity. And what does that say about me?
And on the Leica front, 2 new M-cameras have been announced, the M and the M-E. The M-E is the stripped-down economy version of the M9 and will sell for around $4500 for the body. The M is intended to replace the M9 and will have a new 24 MP sensor with live view, focus peaking, an optional EVF viewfinder, and will sell for a bit over $6000 for the body. It's hard to understand the logic behind Leica's new naming scheme. I mean, I get the M-E, since "E" stands for Economy, but going with just the M leaves me somewhat mystified. Why isn't it the M10? Are they intending that this is the last "M" model? What about other models down the road? Will all of them be called the "M"? How will we tell them apart? So many questions!
