Get A Grip Week - Day Four - The Box Of Boxes - Leica

A note for Leica collectors: The colour of the cardboard box in the heading image has been artificially boosted toward the yellow end of the spectrum. There is no need to rush out and add another set of grey cardboard boxes to your current collection...it is not a new variant.

Well, inside the grey outer casing is a silver inner box:

And inside the silver inner box is a guarantee card, and instruction book, and a new address card - Leica have built a new factory:

And buried at the bottom of the box is a bottom of a Leica camera - a baseplate that has been designed with a grip attached - and a number of unique features:

Let's get the target sorted out first - this grip is intended for the Leica Typ 240 - The Leica M/MP.

It replaces the baseplate that normally covers the bottom of the camera - the big black wheel in the centre screws into the base of the camera body instead.

The grip has things not seen on lesser machines; a USB socket allows pictures to be transferred off to external storage devices and can allow camera control from a computer - there is a DC-in socket to draw power via an adapter - a synch socket allows external flash firing, and an SCA connection allows TTL interface with a suitable flash. It's a lockable socket too.

Good? Well, if the finish of the paint is any indication, perfect. Leica M's are a heavy camera and their metal-bodied lenses are also weighty. I should like the feeling of security that this grip would give with the high-speed lenses. But I'd still keep the neck strap on...despite the fashionable finger loop accessory that they also sell.

See the Leica M Handgrip Multifunction (Typ 240) on our online store here