Japan Camera Hunter has unveiled the latest in its one-off repainted Leicas to celebrate the company’s 10th anniversary.
The Sakura-themes Leica M4 has been painted by specialist cameras restorers Kanto in Tokyo, and is inspired by ornamental cherry blossoms, known as Sakura in Japan.
The Sakura camera is the fourth anniversary camera announced by Japan Camera Hunter, joining a Kintsugi-style Leica M3, a Mondriaan-styled Leica PM2 and a Leica M4-P featuring quotes from George Orwell’s ‘1984’.
Japan Camera Hunter’s Bellamy Hunt told Kosmo Foto: “This one was a surprise for me. I basically gave Kanto a blank sheet and told them to do something special. And they really did.
“We actually had a bit of a headache for finding something to relate this to. As Sakura season is in the spring. But then we found that there is winter Sakura and we found a shrine nearby that had some blooming, which was perfect. The paint on this camera is exquisite.”
The handpainted cameras are part of a number of celebrations to mark the 10th anniversary of the Tokyo-based blog and camera seller, which also launched its film black-and-white film – StreetPan 400 – in 2016.
All four of the handpainted cameras unveiled so far will be available to buy shortly, Hunt said.
I'm a New Zealander who has been living in London since the mid-1990s, shooting film seriously since the year 2000. Kosmo Foto was launched in 2012 and has since become a film brand, with the release of my first films Kosmo Foto Mono 35mm (2017) and Kosmo Foto Mono 120 (2019).
I’m doing everything I can to promote film photography in the 21st Century, and help it survive and thrive. If you want to write something for Kosmo Foto, please drop me a line at foto.dowling@gmail.com.
