Leica is celebrating the 70th anniversary of its M series of cameras and lenses with a special-edition, platinum-plated analogue camera, a new Leicavit M fast film winder and a glossy anniversary book.
The Leica M range is part of the DNA of photojournalism and documentary photography worldwide, with a host of famous pro fans, notably Henri Cartier Bresson.
To celebrate seven decades of this truly iconic camera, Leica is bringing out a special-edition ‘Leica M Edition 70.’ The bundle, limited to 250 sets, includes a platinum-plated M-A film camera with an M3 design and ‘modern internal technology,’ as well as an APO-Summicron-M 50 f/2 ASPH lens, a Leicavit M fast winder and a film container (with film).
The price is, wait for it, £19,000. You can also buy three more variants of the film winder, compatible with the Leica M-A, MP, M6, M7, M6 TTL, M4-P and M4-2 cameras, for £900. These are not limited editions, however.
Leica M brought to book
There is also a ‘Leica M’ anniversary book, which details the history of the range over 250 pages, including insightful essays, famous photographs and rarely shown archival material. This retails for £45. An exhibition on the Leica M system kicks off at Leica’s HQ in Wetzlar, Germany, from November 6th.
You have a bit of time to save up for the Leica M Edition 70, however, as it won’t be available from Leica Stores until early 2025. You can find more information here.
From Leica, October 24th, 2024 (edited)
Launched in 1954, the Leica M3 set standards with its unique rangefinder and the M-System has been continuously developed in the decades since. For example, the legendary Leica M6 featured integrated exposure metering; additional Leica MP models were specially tailored to press photography; the Leica M9 was the first digital full-frame rangefinder camera; and the M (Typ 240) was the first to use a CMOS sensor and was also the first series-produced model without a window for illuminating the viewfinder frames. The Leica M Monochrom ultimately went on to revolutionise digital black-and-white photography.
The Leica M-System has remained both highly compatible and future-proof, with a recent example being the Leica M11-P, which is the world’s first camera capable of verifying the authenticity of digital images thanks to the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI). The Leica M was, and still is, a favourite camera prized by the best photographers, who use it for more than photojournalistic and documentary work.
Limited to 250 sets, the “Leica M Edition 70” has been produced as an exclusive special edition to mark the 70th anniversary. This is a unique collector’s item par excellence… Equipped with a Leica M-A camera, Leica APO-Summicron-M 50 f/2 ASPH. lens, which is one of the best in its class, a Leicavit M fast winder and a film container including film, the “Leica M Edition 70” is not only a wonderful homage to the history of the Leica M-System, but also a perfect investment in the future of analogue photography.
In addition to the special edition, three more versions of the Leicavit M fast winder for manual film transport will also be available in black-painted, glossy black-painted, and silver-chromed variants. These are not limited editions but part of the regular series production. The Leicavit M is compatible with the analog models Leica M-A, MP, M6, M7, M6 TTL, M4-P and M4-2. It is mounted in place of the base plate and allows photographers to take up to two pictures per second without taking their eyes off the viewfinder.
