There are a lot of beautiful cameras on the market right now. The Sigma BF, the Leica D-Lux 8 100 Years of Leica Edition, the new Panasonic Lumix L10… but there's a new kid in town. Well, it's really an old-school kid.
This is the first prototype of a film camera using the Leica M39 mount, being made entirely by hand by the Suzuki Handmade Camera Factory.
My first thought was that this looks like the Cybertruck of Leicas, which I mean in the most complimentary way possible. Hand-milled and drilled from carbon steel, with the glass lens and prism cut and polished from glass ingots, the question might be… why?
As the enigmatic ingénieur behind the Suzuki Handmade Camera Factory states: "I am pursuing the creation of the finest mechanical 35mm film camera – researching, developing, and prototyping entirely on my own."
The project began back in 2021, establishing the workshop and means to create all the components. The first prototype design was completed in October 2024, after which there was a long period of refining and fine-tuning.
Now "Prototype No 1" is 70% finished, with completion forecast for June, with Prototype No 2 scheduled between June and December, followed by Prototype No 3 – the first production model – set to get underway in 2027.
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The current model boasts a metal-curtain horizontal-travel focal-plane shutter, 1/1000 to 1 second shutter, a rangefinder with 1.0x magnification and 120mm base length, and dimensions of 140 x 72.5 x 32 mm.
The Suzuki Handmade Camera Factory has added a new section to the website called Manufacturing Archive containing newly uploaded videos that showcase the manufacturing process of each component of Prototype No 1.
These videos are hosted on the manufacturer's YouTube page as well as its Instagram account. If you're even remotely interested in how cameras are made, or how film cameras work, or even just watching in amazement as somebody builds cool stuff, I definitely recommend checking out Suzuki Handmade Camera Factory.
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