Looks like Leica could have muscled in on the next James Bond film, No Time to Die. Following an appearance on Good Morning America yesterday, Daniel Craig whipped out a Leica Q (or perhaps a Q2) in front of the press.
This won’t be the first time Bond has brandished a Leica. Sean Connery used an M3 in Goldfinger, released in 1964. And Craig was caught on the set of Skyfall using an M digital, so it could just be that he’s a huge fan of the marque.
Since both M and Q are prominent characters in all James Bond stories, this could be a marriage made in heaven for Leica.
Appearances such as yesterday’s TV outing are carefully controlled, it’s quite possible that this wasn’t just a random appearance of Craig’s personal camera in front of the press.
On the other hand, the Q in the picture looks as though it could have seen some use — unless I’m mistaken, the outer edges of the hood are showing the tell-tale metal of the odd scape. It’s a common issue with the Q models.
But whether the Q does appear in the film or not, this one photograph will certainly do no harm to Leica’s sales prospects for an already successful camera.
You will need plenty of Moneypenny if this catches on, to keep up with the GAS.
The most creative comment of recent memory. Hopefully Mike will not give an update on the rumoured Summilux 90/1.5 or my wife will get me committed for a lack of judgement.
Yes. It’s going to be an expensive beast. I would imagine some £11,000 here in the UK.
Blue Moon Camera in Portland, Oregon does a superb job processing Minox film They sell it as well
This explains why people keep mistaking me for James Bond. I will have to sell my Leica M-E (typ 220) so that I can be more invisible. Maybe time to buy a smartphone for discreet photography.
Class will always come out!
Little bit of trivia: Ian Flemming wrote in Goldfinger that the M3 was Bond’s camera of choice…
Thanks, Jonathan. Useful bit of information to store away for the appropriate moment!
Mike
I believe that I have seen the ‘real James Bond’ with a Minox spy camera more than once. These were created by a Baltic German called Walter Zapp. Production was originally in Latvia, but then moved to Germany, to Wetzlar, no less. Mike, I believe that you and I passed the Minox factory in Wetzlar in a bus when we were there last year. They now market miniature replicas of Leica cameras which are produced for them by a Japanese company called Sharan Megahouse. I have their M3 copy. It would be ideal for a latter day Bond who wanted to be simultaneously classy and discrete.
William
I did see the Minox connection the morning when I was researching the M3 appearance. I’ve often been tempted to buy one of their M3 replicas — usually when sitting on a plane. They always seem to be for sale in the in-flight magazine.
The Minox digital replicas (3 megapixels, or 5 ‘interpolated’ megapixels) are good indoors, but poor outdoors ..they have only two shutter speeds; slow and slower. So outdoor pics are generally over-exposed and may be blurry – because things have moved – but INDOOR pics are usually very good: well-exposed ..and sharp ..because the photographer’s intentionally kept the camera steady in low light!
Nobody should buy one of these as anything other than an ornament. I bought mine on a Qatar Airways flight. An original Minox spy camera would give much better spy pictures if you could get someone to process the film.
For anyone who is interested, the KGB had a wonderful range of spy cameras including ones embedded in ties, watches and handbags. Not sure about cuff links, but they would suit Bond perfectly.
William
It’s tiny 8mm film, William, and the ones I’ve shot and enlarged have given awfully grainy results (in black-&-white) even in bright light!
The (later) 16mm – well, 110-sized film – Rollei A110 and E110 (with similar push-pull film winding to the original flat Minoxes) usually gave much better photos, although those original metal spy camera Minoxes were, of course, beautifully engineered!