The M Film Era

The camera that defined the rangefinder. Introduced the M bayonet mount still used today.

The ultra-compact pancake street lens — legendary depth of field, signature classic vignette, so beloved Leica reissued it in 2016.

The mechanical and optical pinnacle of the 1950s Leica golden age — featuring detachable near-focus "eyes" down to 0.48m.

The holy grail of Leica rangefinders — built at Photokina 1956 specifically for Magnum reportage photographers with factory Leicavit trigger winder; only ~450 produced.

The first 35mm Summicron — an eight-element design revered for three-dimensional rendering that later faster lenses never quite matched.

Robert Frank's Guggenheim road trip — 28,000 Leica frames distilled into the most influential photobook ever published.

Alberto Korda's Che Guevara portrait — often called the most reproduced photograph in history. Leica M2, 90mm.

The first 35mm f/1.4 for the M system — a holy-grail lens renowned for its dreamy wide-open rendering.

Diane Arbus's disturbing psychological portrait of suburban childhood — Colin Wood clutching a toy grenade.

The classic symmetrical ultra-wide angle lens designed by Schneider-Kreuznach — famed for zero distortion and extraordinary contrast.

The first production camera lens ever made with aspherical elements — hand-ground, extremely rare, a milestone in optical engineering.

Marc Riboud's transcendent anti-war icon — 17-year-old Jan Rose Kasmir holding a chrysanthemum against a row of bayonets at the Pentagon.

Daido Moriyama's gritty portrait of post-war Japanese restlessness — the feral stray dog that became his creative alter-ego. Leica M4.

The compact seven-element Summicron 35mm beloved for unusually smooth out-of-focus rendering — the "Bokeh King" of the M system.

The definitive film M — TTL exposure metering meets a fully mechanical shutter. Known as the "M6 Classic" to distinguish it from the later M6 TTL.

The "Double Aspherical" — two hand-ground aspherical surfaces, roughly 2,000 made, one of the most collectible M lenses ever.

The first aspherical 35 Summicron — the modern era's reportage workhorse.

The first APO lens in the M line — the start of the apochromatic benchmark family.

A single lens that clicks to three focal lengths: 28mm, 35mm, and 50mm at f/4 — the one-lens travel kit for the M system.

The modern classic fifty — nineteen years in production, a floating element, and the most-recommended fast 50 of the digital M era.