The Large APEX Bolometer Camera, LABOCA, has been commissioned for operation as a new facility instrument t the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment 12m submillimeter telescope. This new 295-bolometer total power camera, operating in the 870 micron atmospheric window, combined with the high efficiency of APEX and the excellent atmospheric transmission at the site, offers unprecedented capability in mapping submillimeter continuum emission for a wide range of astronomical purposes.