camera

50 years of M evolution has concentrated on development, rather than change for its own sake.So M's are not burdened with over-complication. There are no gadgets. No unnecessary electronic trickery. Nothing to confound the act of photography. Just the most evolved optical performance. And utter mechanical reliability. Closer to the key moment. The rangefinder system captures the natural vitality of a situation. The photographer is part of the action and frames his subject - a scene, a mood, a moment - through the rangefinder without losing view of what's happening outside the viewfinder frame. He can therefore anticipate the decisive moment and release the shutter at exactly the right time - typical of the M. Magnum photographer Elliott Erwitt said: "With an SLR you compose the picture in the camera. With the Leica rangefinder you have to see the picture, recognize it and then frame it." Leica M images convey an effortless, authentic impression, because they are composed with foresight and captured in a fraction of a second. The photographer even sees his subject during the exposure, and even in the most difficult available light situations, the bright, high-contrast viewfinder allows extremely fast and exact focusing. Together with the short shutter delay, the rangefinder principle makes Leica M cameras the fastest in the world.

50 years of M evolution has concentrated on development