Leica's M Monochrom is an $8000 camera that only takes B&W shots

Black and white photography is particularly dramatic with all the mood and shadow it conveys. Leica has gone ahead and created a high end digital camera that shoots only black and white photos and it costs a whopping $8,000. There's no punchline, but this does present some interesting questions. Like why not just offer users the option to switch to black and white option when they want to colour-free images.

Leica has actually created a camera  dedicated  black and white sensor without a colour filter that lets in more light. The camera can also add three toning colors to its monchrome output or its uncompressed DNG files can be edited using the included copy of Photoshop Lightroom. A full version of the mono processing software Silver Efex 2 is also included.

Here are the specs:

• 18MP CCD monochrome sensor (24 x 36mm)
• No anti-aliasing filter
• No color filter array
• ISO 320-10,000 (with a 'Pull 160*' option)
• 2.5" 230,000 dot rear LCD
• Supplied with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Silver Efex Pro 2

Source:  DPReview.com