new old cameras

Last few days i've been looking on Ebay and around the internet for some old camera stuff, with some success i might add. The old classics are not really in demand as they were just a few years ago even, deals are there to be found if you're at all interested, but that doesn't stop some folks from still trying to get top dollar off of something that almost no one wants. Sadly, for the most part the old technology is fading a bit quicker than i suspected it would only a few years ago. It's not depressing at all, but certainly interesting.

Anyway while looking around i stumbled on some photos of two classic versions of cameras similar to what i use, but insane special editions. These things are damn near comical, but if it was 1987 and i got a big Def Jam job done, i may have treated myself to one of these, In fact if i showed them to Rick Rubin back then he probably would have insisted that i use one on my next shoot! I mean if Ice-T or Eric B. were at all interested in photography i'm sure I would have had to get them one of these:


So what's the real story on this Pentax LX camera anyway?

" .... It was March 16th, 1981, one year after the introduction of the Pentax LX. The ten-millionth Pentax SLR camera, an LX, came out of AOC’s main plant in Mashiko and was given to the chief designer, then chairman of Asahi Opt. Co. Ltd. Minoru Suzuki. In order to celebrate this 10 million event, on August 25th, 1981 a limited edition "LX Gold" was introduced. It was 18 carat gold plated with brown leather (also-called lizard skin or snake skin) and was equipped with an SMC Pentax f/1.2 50mm lens also with brown leather and gold finish. All dark details of the LX Gold are dark-brown instead of black, including the front lens ring and film chamber, with only the film pressure plate and the small watch curtain in black. Of course, the natural titanium shutter curtains remain unchanged. Also a brown lens cap and everready case were provided with the LX Gold. The package included a wooden box with red lining and white silk gloves to handle the camera without leaving fingerprints on the sensitive gold plating. Both the camera and the case are provided with golden carton boxes sporting 10million logo and 1981 lettering.

Only 300 pieces of the LX Gold were manufactured, 200pcs for the Japanese home market and 100pcs for the international market. Serial numbers for the LX Gold ranged from XM001 to XM300 (XM meaning ten million). Sales started in November 1981 at 850,000 Yen, but not all of them, were sold, as some were either given to Pentax importers worldwide or became prizes for photo contests... Apparently, the LX Gold for the US market had a different type of leather, maybe for import laws about leather of endangered species.

The original article was published on SPOTMATIC magazine #25, July 2000.

for more pictures of this incredibly pimped out camera than you could imagine (four pages worth) go here.