To mark the 40th anniversary of the Leica Oskar Barnack Award, the folks at Leica released a limited edition camera named after a profession that could not afford one: the Leica M10-P “Reporter”.

Limited to 450 units worldwide, this digital rangefinder costs more than a year’s salary of a reporter working at the newspaper I write for. The product page for this thing listed its price at 8,795USD. 

At that price, of course, the lens is not included, silly. 

That said, Leica cameras are pretty awesome thanks to their attention to detail, spiffy design, gorgeous lenses, and their smart digital sensors.

What caught my attention is the “Reporter’s” extremely scratch and fingerprint-resistant finish. The military green colour combined with the name evolves the idea that this camera is a camera for reporting in a conflict zone. 

To add to that conflict zone image, the camera only has functional engravings marked in light green and a black Kevlar armour grip. 

I can just see the designer that made this daydreaming that one day their camera would save some journalist’s life on the battlefield. The serendipitous tale will then be immortalised in the news, perhaps even a museum, and passed down from generation to generation. 

Except, most reporters, especially the ones here in Malaysia could afford an RM36,000 camera. And even if they do, they certainly would not take a chance at bringing it into a conflict zone.