Leica M10 May Be Revealed At May 10 Event

Leica has begun sending out invitations for a special event taking place May 10-11 in Berlin, where it promises to reveal "a whole range of product launches." One of these products is believed to be a new M-series camera, the M10, which the May 10 date seems to hint at. If Leica's rumored release schedule is true, then this successor to the M9 should be due for launch this year.

The invitation sent by Leica CEO Alfred Schopf was posted up by Steve Huff. It doesn't give away too much information on what to expect, but Huff believes that new M-series and X-series cameras will be part of the event. According to Huff, Leica's Stephen Daniel had at one point told him that the company plans to release new M- and X- line cameras every two to three years, making now a ripe time for updates to both lines.

The above rendering of the M10 is a concept design by Svein Gunnar Kjøde and unfortunately not the actual camera itself. Although no details are available yet on the M10, we can expect it to improve on the M9, which is the world's smallest full-frame interchangeable lens camera and boasts a 18-megapixel CCD sensor. The M9 costs about $8,000, so the M10 may carry just as hefty a price tag if not more.