Leica at a glance
Leica is a German maker of cameras and lenses, based in Wetzlar. It made the first practical 35mm camera and is best known for its M-system rangefinder cameras, which many street and documentary photographers have used for a century. Today Leica makes rangefinders, full-frame mirrorless cameras, compact cameras and lenses, and licenses its name to phone makers.
History
1914. Oskar Barnack, head of development at Ernst Leitz in Wetzlar, built a small prototype camera for cinema film, later called the Ur-Leica. It used a frame of 24 × 36mm, which became the standard 35mm format.
1925. The Leica I (for Leitz camera) was introduced at the Leipzig Spring Fair and was an immediate success.
1954. The Leica M3 introduced the M bayonet mount, used on every M camera since.
1986. The photography business took its present form as Leica.
2006. The M8 became the first digital M camera.
2014. Leica moved back to Wetzlar, to the new Leitz Park.
Since 2018. Leica’s L-mount is shared with Panasonic and Sigma in the L-Mount Alliance.
Systems and mounts
M system (M mount). Manual-focus rangefinder cameras, digital and film. Digital M cameras offer aperture priority and auto ISO, so they are not fully manual.
SL system (L mount). Full-frame mirrorless cameras with autofocus. The sensor is full frame, the same size as in the digital M cameras.
Q series. Full-frame compact cameras with a fixed lens.
Compact and instant. The D-Lux compact and the Sofort instant cameras.
Discontinued systems. The medium-format S system, the APS-C CL and TL cameras and the C-Lux compact are no longer in Leica’s current range.
Current cameras
Cameras listed on leica-camera.com, checked on November 3, 2026:
M: M11, M11-P, M11-D, M11 Monochrom, M EV1 (with an electronic viewfinder instead of a rangefinder), and the film cameras M6, MP and M-A.
SL: SL3, SL3-S, SL3-P.
Q: Q3, Q3 43, Q3 Monochrom.
Compact and instant: D-Lux 8, Sofort 2.
For a closer look at two current cameras, see our articles on the Leica M11 and the Leica Q3.
Photographers who used Leica
Many of the photographers in Photopedia worked with Leica rangefinders, among them Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, Saul Leiter, Bruce Davidson, Alex Webb and Joel Meyerowitz. Small, quiet and reliable, the M cameras suited work close to people.
Reviews of Leica gear on About Photography: Leica M240, Summilux 50mm f/1.4 ASPH and D-Lux (Typ 109).
Sources: Leica Camera (Wikipedia), Leica M mount (Wikipedia), leica-camera.com (current range, November 2026).
Last updated: November 2026
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