Hasselblad announces $10,000 Iron Man lookalike Lunar camera
posted Monday, January 13, 2014 at 1:07 PM EDT
If the original Hasselblad Lunar and its whopping $7,000 pricetag wasn't exclusive or garish enough for you, take heart, because the camera maker just announced an extremely limited version in red and gold, which will set you back €7,200 (around $10,000).
The color scheme reminds us more than a little of our favorite shellhead — Iron Man. But in reality, this version (of which only 200 will be made) is colored this way for a very specific reason: to celebrate of the upcoming Chinese New Year. Described as having "sumptuous, unique red Tuscan leather grip; a black leather shoulder strap accented with red stitching; and an exclusive PVD matte gold-treated top plate," gold and red are considered auspicious colors for the beginning of the Chinese New Year, which falls on January 31st.
The Chinese New Year is often a venue for large purchases, and as Hasselblad CEO Ian Rawcliffe puts it:
"We wanted to celebrate what, coincidentally, is also known as The Lunar New Year, with a unique and iconic limited edition camera which we believe will be revered as a true example of camera art by photo-connoisseurs and collectors across the world. Only two hundred have been developed in our Italy-based design centre and the exclusive red and gold colours on the grip and body underpin the traditional Chinese belief that these shades represent good fortune and joy."
It's just a shame that this is a hideously expensive version of the Lunar -- itself an overpriced remodel of the aging Sony NEX-7 -- that looks especially terrible with the new color scheme. But maybe it'll appeal to enough people for Hasselblad to sell off all 200 of them.
