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Leica Camera From Former Apple Designers Jony Ive and Mark Newson Heading to Auction

Jony Ive and Co. said:
I really do miss Jony Ive. It's such a shame to see long-time Apple executives slowly going away. First we lost Scott Forstall, then Bob Mansfield, Jony Ive, Phil Schiller, Dan Riccio (I miss seeing Dan Riccio in the very first iPad ad!) etc, the people who truly made what Apple is, and the very people who were such fun to see on the stage (for Phil Schiller at least). I just can't help but feel nostalgic towards those good old Steve Jobs days.

BRING THEM BACK!!!!!!!
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Ive was a good visual/industrial designer but not a good product person. Without Jobs telling him what is good or bad for final production, the things he made increasingly started to look like speculative design showcase pieces rather products created with the user experience in mind.
 
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Jony Ive and Co. said:
I really do miss Jony Ive. It's such a shame to see long-time Apple executives slowly going away. First we lost Scott Forstall, then Bob Mansfield, Jony Ive, Phil Schiller, Dan Riccio (I miss seeing Dan Riccio in the very first iPad ad!) etc, the people who truly made what Apple is, and the very people who were such fun to see on the stage (for Phil Schiller at least). I just can't help but feel nostalgic towards those good old Steve Jobs days.

BRING THEM BACK!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

At least as far as Jony Ive goes, please no. The MacBook Pro and other Pro products are too much form over function. Design is important, but it has to be functional.

Today I can make an iPhone as thin and foldable as a piece of paper, one that will fit in your pocket and unfold to the size of a Pro phone. Of course, it won't call, has no display and no battery. But for what it does, it does it well. That's what happened with non-removable memory, SSD, etc Pro products that were all glued together or in the shape of a trash can. Fine for consumer ones if that is what people want, I'm not sure that is true, but, certainly for the Pro models that Apple makes, they need function over form.

At least with Steve Jobs, he know that function is critical with a balanced design. He could control or at least balance Jony and give him some perspective.
 
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Veinticinco said:
Looks like a knock off imitation DLUX, whose chassis and architecture this was almost certainly based on.

Only slightly less tasteless than the red trashcan and gold earpods. Also, wrong use of the word prototype which is a concept built with a view to going into production. These items were basically ”designed” (I use the word very loosely) post-production as one off gimmicks to get stupid rich people to (quid pro quo) donate to charity.
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No, it's clearly a rangefinder. Something like a Leica M Type 240 with a different design. It even has an M-Lens.
 
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zachdog said:
This camera is an example of everything that went wrong with Apple after Steve Jobs died. The buttons are useless because the markings are removed. Minimalist design might appear to be beautiful, but in this case renders the product nearly useless. For comparison, here are a few well-known product “features” of Apple products directly influenced by this form-over-function philosophy:

- thin but malfunctioning butterfly keyboards, stubbornly not redesigned for years
- iPhone batteries that don’t last the entire day, but hey, the phones are thin
- no current MacBook has more than a USB-C port, so you get dongles for everything, but look how clean the design is
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You realize this is an incomplete prototype right? The markings are removed because they were never added in the first place.

The final 1/1 version of this camera is absolutely beautiful IMO: https://www.popphoto.com/news/2013/10/photos-what-leica-m-looks-designed-apples-jony-ive/
 
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Btaylor_prod said:
It literally looks like all of the Leica Rangefiders, except white and slightly curved edges.
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It’s a bit odd that they fabbed hundreds of protos only to recycle the same design elements into yet another fairly typical design already dated to that time. If they had any idea where the camera was headed, they would have massed their design around a giant piece of glass rather than the outdated bulky body & little lens proportion.
 
Form over function on a camera simply doesn’t work well. As a person who uses cameras a lot, especially in astrophotography, that camera form would be an absolute nightmare to operate. I think most serious photography enthusiasts and pros would much prefer clearly marked controls, and plenty of them too, that are very easy the use over that piece of artwork that was clearly designed to look good in a display cabinet but not designed to function well.
 
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swingerofbirch said:
The smartphone has really killed off reasonably priced, nice compact cameras. There are the Sony RX100 lines, but they're very expensive and overheat.

I have a Canon S110 which was very reasonably priced, took great photos, and unfortunately broke. And I really do prefer having a good standalone camera (to me that's a good camera). Most of the nice compact models like that one have either gone off the market or not been updated in years. Panasonic made some like that in their Lumix line that haven't been update in years. Canon dropped that S100 line. Olympus got out. There are still really cheap point and shoot cameras and really expensive cameras, but no great middle of the road options that are up to date. Apple with its chip technology could make a great camera like that but wouldn't as it's too small of a market. They've squeezed everything out of those tiny sensors on the iPhone that they can with their chips. I know people say how great phone photography is, but I've never taken pictures with a smartphone that compare to a stand alone camera. Frankly I'd prefer a nice compact camera and a candy bar cell phone. The only thing I use my smartphone these days for is text messaging which I do on my computer anyway (messages forwarded to the computer).

For my use case scenarios tech has gone backward. It's like I have to own this separate device (a smartphone with service plan) to do on my computer what I used to do on just my computer by itself (back when I used AIM and now have to use texting since everyone else does). I don't make phone calls much, and I don't leave the house, so I seriously just have a smartphone plugged in so I can text from my computer. And the camera options? There were more up to date nice compact cameras back in 2013 than now.

Sorry for the tangent. That Leica just looks a fair bit like my Canon S110 (also in a white metal finish) that I'm lamenting no longer works and has no available successor, in large part because of Apple's momentum (as well as smartphones in general) into photography (and instant messaging . . . grumble).
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The world has changed...for better or worse, depends on your pint of view. The camera industry is in tatters and is going higher end/higher margin to survive. Some companies won’t make it...it’s a brave new world.

While some good smaller cameras exist, they will slowly die out over time and/or they aren’t going to get updated every year or even every 3 years. That is the new reality we’re living in. Find the one you like most or on eBay and buy it, just don’t expect it to be updated.
 
I love Leica, beautiful glass through which many talented photographers have captured many memorable images. I would happily have this in my camera collection if I had more money than sense. It would have been great if Apple had worked with Leica instead of Huawei. An iPhone with Leica glass in its lenses would be really cool. But yes I would prefer to take photos with a Leica over a phone any day. It's just easier to carry an iPhone with me most of the time.
 
You just can't overstate how wonderful was Jony Ive. However, he eventually presided over a culture of cuteness and frippery over function and I'm glad he's gone. Based on his products from what I call the "malaise era" beginning with the trash can mac, I'd need to carefully examine any Jony Ive designed product before I'd buy it. Now, with M1 and more practical thinking on laptop design and thinness/sleekness for their own sake, let's hope he sticks to his new stuff and keeps out of Apple's way.
 
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zachdog said:
This camera is an example of everything that went wrong with Apple after Steve Jobs died. The buttons are useless because the markings are removed. Minimalist design might appear to be beautiful, but in this case renders the product nearly useless. For comparison, here are a few well-known product “features” of Apple products directly influenced by this form-over-function philosophy:

- thin but malfunctioning butterfly keyboards, stubbornly not redesigned for years
- iPhone batteries that don’t last the entire day, but hey, the phones are thin
- no current MacBook has more than a USB-C port, so you get dongles for everything, but look how clean the design is
Click to expand...
On the flip-side:-
- $2T
- iphone 12 is an unmitigated success
- Wearables revenue is in the stratosphere
- Services revenue has been hit out of the ballpart

Are examples of groundwork that has been laid and are examples of everything that went right after Steve Jobs died. (And to that end, my list is better than your list. :p)
 
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appahappa said:
No, it's clearly a rangefinder. Something like a Leica M Type 240 with a different design. It even has an M-Lens.
Click to expand...
Ah fair enough, I have an old Leica but knew there would be a few aficionados/photographers here to correct me.

Either way, it’s not a “prototype“ anything.
 
I don't know man. It kinda looks like a piece of silverware. Really cold, boring and a fingerprint magnet.
 
zachdog said:
This camera is an example of everything that went wrong with Apple after Steve Jobs died. The buttons are useless because the markings are removed. Minimalist design might appear to be beautiful, but in this case renders the product nearly useless. For comparison, here are a few well-known product “features” of Apple products directly influenced by this form-over-function philosophy:

- thin but malfunctioning butterfly keyboards, stubbornly not redesigned for years
- iPhone batteries that don’t last the entire day, but hey, the phones are thin
- no current MacBook has more than a USB-C port, so you get dongles for everything, but look how clean the design is
Click to expand...

The camera in this article is just a prototype. Here is the final design that came out:
www.theguardian.com

Apple's Jony Ive designs a Leica camera you will never own

The one-of-a-kind Leica, designed by Ive and designer Marc Newton, will be auctioned to raise money for Product (RED)
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

39e6a654-cc30-45ba-8b67-876257b57e95-bestSizeAvailable.jpeg
 
Jony Ive and Co. said:
I really do miss Jony Ive. It's such a shame to see long-time Apple executives slowly going away. First we lost Scott Forstall, then Bob Mansfield, Jony Ive, Phil Schiller, Dan Riccio (I miss seeing Dan Riccio in the very first iPad ad!) etc, the people who truly made what Apple is, and the very people who were such fun to see on the stage (for Phil Schiller at least). I just can't help but feel nostalgic towards those good old Steve Jobs days.

BRING THEM BACK!!!!!!!
Click to expand...
I understand the feeling here, BUT time changes everything and for the better at Apple. We have to focus on the today & future and have fond memories of the past, but move forward. Go Apple!
 
I like Ive's designs and generally am a fan of minimalism, but as a camera person I cannot in any situation imagine a minimalist camera making any sense. If you want a minimalist camera, I've got good news for you - you already have one and you carry it with you wherever you go. If you want to a dedicated camera as well, it's a waste of space unless it's easy and simple to play with its settings.

I have no idea what this gives you that your phone doesn't already. Granted, I know this wasn't produced to become a widely-used product, but it feels like I'm looking at a Big Mac that costs $50 and tastes exactly like a Big Mac.
 
Imagine spending $1 million on this and some guy with a $6K Hasselblad or $3K Nikon walks past and tells you your sensor sucks.
 
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Ive can only design for himself. Once he got rich all he could design was stupid rich person ****, like gold Apple watches and thousand dollar monitor stands.
 
It took two people to design this? Just take a regular camera and remove nearly everything that makes it slightly uglier but useful.
 
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