Today Leica have announced a range of cameras as well as a lens at an event in Berlin Germany – one of which is causing quite the stir. It is the new Leica M-Monochrom camera – worth a cool $7990 USD (body only). The discussion already rages around the web – largely centred upon two areas: the price (a debate that happens every time Leica cameras are mentioned) the fact that this is a Black and White camera – there’s nothing colour here! I might skip over the debate on price as it’s an old one and ultimately people will pay for this camera (in face of late Leica seems to be having a resurgence dispute the hefty price of their cameras and lenses (disclosure: I shoot with a Leica M9P). But lets take a quick look at the idea of a camera designed with the sole purpose of shooting black and white images. Why is there a need for a camera like this when you can convert colour images so easily in post processing and when Leica’s other M range of digital cameras can also shoot in black and white. There’s actually some sense behind what might seem like a crazy idea. The Leica M-Monochrom camera has no filter array in front of its sensor to allow it to collect any colour information when it shoots an image.