The Least Loved Leicas: 1926-2018
Some Leicas, like the Leica M3, the M2, the M6, and the IIIg, are beloved by almost every Leica fan on earth. Less exalted models like the Leica IIIf, mid-50’s MP, and the analog CL are still regarded with affection and held in high esteem. However, there’s a small class of Leicas that was largely ignored or criticized while they were in production, and they were manufactured in smaller numbers than expected due to lackluster sales. Ironically, all three 35mm cameras covered here are beautifully made, and great cameras in their own idiosyncratic ways, proving, among other things, that there’s no accounting for taste. And all three have attained collectible status, especially the first one. Clearly, all such choices are inherently subjective, so we welcome your input on beloved and least loved Leicas, which we may cover in a future article.
It may seem odd to include the Leica B, aka the Compur Leica, on this short list because it was never intended to be a broad-spectrum camera. First introduced in 1926 and designed for scientists, doctors, and others who required timed shutter speeds slower than the 1/20 sec provided by the focal plane shutter in the Leica I (Model A), the Leica B was basically a Leica A with the focal-plane shutter removed and its collapsible 50mm f/3.5 Elmar lens fitted into a 1 to 1/300 sec plus B & T Compur leaf shutter. About 600 Compur Leicas made from 1926-1929 were fitted with the old dial-set Compur shutter, with shutter seed settings selected by turning a small, black, round numbered dial. Most later models had a rim-set Compur shutter with the same speeds but set with a wider diameter chrome or nickel ring around the entire front of the lens housing (see photos). According to Leica-Wiki a total of only 1,651 Leica Bs were ever made, the very last a rim-set model dated 1941, long after interchangeable lens Leicas with slow speeds (e.g. the Leica III and IIIa) were readily available.
According to Pacific Rim Camera’s excellent online post on the Leica B (Compur), it was initially priced at “about 1/3 less than the Leica I (Model A)” when first introduced, which would put it at about 50 bucks! By 1928, the Leica B was officially priced at $75, then $20 less than the Leica A. The reason folks didn’t come flocking to buy the “bargain Leica” is that it lacked two of the Leica A’s most important and useful features—automatic shutter cocking and frame counting when you wind the film to the next frame, and double exposure prevention. Cocking and firing the shutter on a Compur Leica is done using separate spring-loaded levers at the front of the lens and the shutter is not coupled to the wind mechanism so unintentional double exposures are all too possible. What looks like a top-mounted body shutter release on the B is just a button that releases the frame counter so you can turn the wind knob to correctly position and count the next frame.
Whatever its deficiencies in terms of convenience, the beautifully made Compur Leica is a great camera, and like its illustrious predecessor, it’s capable of first-class results even today. One thing it isn’t is inexpensive—the de facto black sheep of its day is now evidently owned by the golden goose, and a humble Leica B in excellent condition can easily fetch $6,000 and up at the leading auction houses.
The Leica M5: Not the shape of things to come!
The Leica M5 announced in 1971 was the first Leica rangefinder camera to feature through-the-lens (TTL) metering and is said to be the last M model entirely made in Wetzlar using traditional “adjust and fit” assembly techniques. It uses an 8mm CdS cell built into a retractable “semaphore arm” that comes into position in front of the shutter curtain as you stroke the wind lever to advance the film and cock the shutter, and instantly retracts when you press the shutter release, just before the shutter fires. This sensitive meter provides limited area “semi spot” readings using an in-finder match needle system with shutter speeds visible in the finder. The 0.72x range/viewfinder with transilluminated, parallax-compensating frame lines for 35mm, 50mm, 90mm, and 135mm lenses (with the 35mm and 135mm frames appearing together) is essentially the same one used in the M4. On the downside, the M5 was designed to use a 1.35v PX625 mercuric oxide button cell to power the meter and must be recalibrated to work properly with modern 1.5v equivalents. On the upside, its shutter speed dial, coaxial with the shutter release, hangs over the top plate for easy and quick manipulation with the camera held at eye level, its ratcheted single-stroke wind lever is superb, and its revised horizontal cloth focal plane shutter was claimed to be the quietest in any Leica to date.
The main problem with the Leica M5 was not its feature set or its performance parameters—it was its size, weight, and inelegant “industrial” form factor that only an engineer could love. The height and width of the body (84mm and 150mm respectively) were larger, and the body weight was 50g greater than any previous Leica M, the bottom mounted rewind crank was generally reviled, and the two side-mounted neck strap lugs were arranged for a non-traditional vertical-only carry (eventually a third lug had to be added to quell the torrent of complaints). To say that Leica fans were disappointed to see the M5 offered as a successor to the M4 is an understatement. They hated it. They said the M5’s style was clunky, boxy and the very antithesis of the elegant, compact, rounded-end Leica Ms they had grown to love, and they voted with their wallets. Indeed, Leica M5 sales were so disappointing that production was halted in 1975 after a total production run (in black and chrome) of only 33,900 bodies, and Leitz retreated, relying on the much-admired M4 to bravely carry on.
In the immediate aftermath of the M5 debacle, you could snatch a used one in mint condition for silly money—$500 or even less, but Japanese collectors saw an investment opportunity and bid up the price of the M5 to its present level—about $1,400 to $1,800 for a clean functional body. As a user-collectible, it’s an excellent, if somewhat hefty, Leica M and still a good buy at the current price level. Despite the hue and cry of Leica fans half a century ago the Leica M5 isn’t actively ugly, but it’s surely not as pretty or elegant as other Leica Ms past and present that are based on the classic M3 form factor, the “look” that has exalted the image of Leica for nearly 70 years.
The Leica M7: Full Automation collides with the Digital Revolution
The first autoexposure M-mount rangefinder camera, the Minolta CLE, was unveiled in 1980, so Leitz certainly took its sweet time in bringing forth the long-anticipated autoexposure Leica M7, which went into production in 2001 and was officially unveiled at Photokina in 2002. A direct successor to the M6, the Leica M7 was the first Leica M to provide aperture-priority autoexposure via an electronically controlled horizontal cloth focal plane shutter with speeds from 32-1/1000 sec in Auto Mode, 4-1/1000 sec in manual metering mode, plus mechanically controlled speeds of 1/60 and 1/125 sec plus B that operate without battery power. The M7 has a two-stage shutter release—the first detent locks in the exposure reading; the second fires the shutter—and an off position to conserve battery power. The M7 is also the first Leica M to support DX coding, and the dial on the back functions as an exposure compensation control, not merely as a film type reminder dial. The M7 has the same 6-frame range/viewfinder system as the M6 with parallax compensating frame lines for focal lengths 28-135mm appearing in pairs, and it was offered in a choice of 3 magnifications, 0.72x, 0.85x, and O.58x.
Perhaps the most ingenious feature of the M7 is its TTL metering system, which provides selective readings at working aperture. Incoming light passes through the lens and is reflected off a light greyish 12mm circular metering spot in the center of the first shutter curtain, into a tiny, angled lens to the top and left of the bayonet mount that focuses the beam onto a silicon photodiode (SPD cell). This provides limited area (13% of the full frame area) readings both for aperture-priority auto, and metered manual using a system of LED readouts in the finder. The metering system is an elegant piece of engineering and has proven to be very sensitive and accurate. The M7’s electronically controlled shutter, metering system, and LEDs are powered by 2 type DL 1/3 N lithium cells, and the body measures a svelte 5.4 x 3.1 x 1.5 inches (W x H x D) and weighs in at a mere 21.5 ounces sans batteries.
The Leica M7 is a superb camera, and in a way, it’s the apotheosis of the analog Leica M. So how come it was in production for only 6 years from 2001-2006 (and possibly early 2007) and according to Leica-Wiki, only 27,033 M7s were ever made? Why were sales of the M7 so sluggish that Leica slowly sold off the remaining inventory over nearly a dozen years and only discontinued it officially in 2018? One reason is that some diehard Leica fans could never wrap theirs heads around the idea of an autoexposure Leica M, especially one that requires battery power to provide a full range of shutter speeds—they see it as out of character for a Leica M, and of course the thought of having to carry extra batteries is anathema. The other reason is simply bad timing—the M7 was introduced in 2002, at the cusp of the Digital Revolution when interest in “old fashioned” film camera was tanking.
Given the perversity of human nature, once the Leica M7 was discontinued, many who had ignored or scoffed at it suddenly saw its sterling virtues (which are many) and decided they just had to have one. As a result, the once unloved Leica M7 now typically fetches from $3,500-$5,000 (body only) on the current online auction market and “Betriebsk” (company camera), “A la Carte,” and other limited-edition versions go for a lot more.
Heartfelt thanks to Leica historical guru James Lager for providing all the images accompanying this article.