350kg Stainless Steel ‘Fake Leicas’ Aren’t Fooling Anybody

Leicas have some of the most recognisable and most duplicated features of any camera, but they’ve never been recreated quite like this.

Chinese artist, Liao Yibai, designed and built these sculptures from a combination of wood, wire and clay for the underlying shape, then plated them in stainless steel. Only three copies exist; one at the Foto Henny Hoogeveen Leica store in Lisse, the Netherlands, one at Leica Camera AG headquarters, and a third in the possession of a Leica distributor.

They aren’t accurate reproductions of any particular model, mind you. Instead they incorporate features from the M6, M7 and M9 series, to name a few. Check out Leica Rumors for a full gallery of the camera, and if you think you can ID all the various pieces, let us know in the comments!

[Leica Rumors, Design of the Fake Leicas .PDF via Petal Pixel]