Hot on the heels of the recent vertigo-inducing Nikon D90 unboxing (Nikon D90 Unboxing: Furthering the Genre, 09.17.2008), I present my own, skewed version of this geeky tech fetish.

Only this “must-have” new gadget is … well, kinda old.

Befitting my love of all things optical, I present the “unboxing” (and assembly) of a Leonardo daVinci Camera Obscura kit, the latest earliest in digital analog optical technology!

This latest wonder from Canon Nikon Middlesex University Teaching Resources and the Victoria and Albert Museum features a crystal clear scratch-prone Carl Zeiss plastic lens and a HUGE (3″ x 3″) digital image sensor piece of tracing paper. As you can see, this baby really soaks up the light only works in painfully blinding sunlight.

The body is aluminum alloy medium density fiberboard (or “MDF”), yet still lightweight for the active sedentary shooter looker. You could run over this thing with a truck remote control car and not see a scratch it would likely be completely destroyed.

The inside of the Leonardo daVinci Camera Obscura is just as impressive as the body, and offers amazing cutting-edge technology empty space to assure you high quality somewhat decent images.

The MSRP is a cool $3,000 $18, making it a stretch for most budgets. But there’s no need to worry about obsolescence here, folks. Six months one million years from now, this camera will still be cranking out images as beautiful as the day you bought it.

So if you’re a weekend photographer seeking great shots of the kids, a pro who demands the best, or a dilettante who is mesmerized by the simple mysteries of light and images, I highly recommend the Leonardo daVinci Camera Obscura.

Order now from B&H this nerdy online gift shop, and don’t forget that extra Compact Flash card glue. You’re gonna need it!