Leica’s iPhone Camera Add-on Set to Revolutionise iPhoneography

We've seen plenty of iPhone camera extensions before but this one takes the cake. Don't go wild just yet – it's still only in concept stage – but with the optical zoom of a Leica lens combined with the functionality of the Apple iPhone, the Leica i9 is sure to take iPhoneography to new heights.

This week Black Design Associates announced the Leica i9 concept, which lets you slip your iPhone 4 into a Leica camera casing. The result? A point and shoot camera with internal flash memory, a 12.1 megapixel sensor and 8x optical zoom.

In developing the concept, BDA asked the question: "How do you combine a great smart phone with a great digital camera when your brands may speak to very different categories?" BDA approached the brief with the strategy of compliment without compromise, allowing the strengths of both Apple and Leica products to shine through in tandem.

Sweet features of the Leica i9 include:

• Camera/iPhone Toggle: turns on your camera with an instant start-up time of 0.3 seconds, while simultaneously loading the Leica app on your iPhone 4
• Flash and Light Meter: offers higher quality photos and videos in low-light conditions
• Camera Back Dock: harks back to traditional 35mm film, the back swinging open like a traditional film door to reveal the standard Apple 30-pin connector dock

[Via Engadget]