Leica M6

Introduced in 1984, the Leica M6 solved the one complaint photographers had about earlier M bodies: there was no reliable built-in light meter. The M6 added a TTL (through-the-lens) meter with LED indicators in the viewfinder — just two arrows and a dot — without sacrificing the fully mechanical shutter that makes the camera work without batteries in a pinch. It was the right camera at the right time, and it stayed in production for fourteen years.

For newcomers to film photography: the M6 is the reason the Leica M system has a second life in the 21st century. When the film revival began in the 2010s, a generation of photographers discovered that the M6 was the most practical entry point into classic Leica shooting — metered, reliable, and still fully mechanical if the batteries die. Used prices climbed from a few hundred dollars to well over $2,000 as demand outpaced supply. Leica noticed: they reissued the M6 in 2022. The original 1984–1998 production run is the camera that made film cool again, and it did it by being genuinely excellent rather than merely fashionable.