COLOGNE—Leica announced a number of new cameras this morning, but none are as unique, or perplexing, as the Leica M Edition 60.
Designed by Audi, the camera eliminates the rear LCD panel, replacing it with a physical ISO dial like you'd find on a film M. The top and bottom plates are fabricated from stainless steel rather than the typical brass used in M cameras, which gives the limited-edition camera a sharp, polished look.
There's no port for an EVF either, so you won't have the option of diving into camera menus. The M Edition 60 shoots only in Raw DNG format, you'll have to use a Raw converter like Lightroom to process images, and of course there's no way to shoot video. Dr. Andreas Kaufmann, the chairman of Leica's board of directors, stated that omitting the LCD is beneficial to photographers, as it requires the same attention to detail as shooting with film.
But Leica recognizes the limited audience that will be interested in the M Edition 60. It's limited to 600 pieces, and will be bundled with a matching version of one of Leica's best lenses, the 35mm Summilux-M f/1.4 ASPH.
The other new M also lacks an LCD screen, but that's because it's a film camera. The fully mechanical M-A has no electronics or internal light meter. It's the same camera that Leica released in May as the limited M Edition 100. It handles just like the classic M3, albeit with a viewfinder with a smaller 0.72x magnification. The M-A's film advance lever feels almost exactly like that of the M3, and the quiet click of its shutter is indistinguishable from a classic Leica. No ship date is set, but it's available for pre-order for $4,750 in black or silver. That price includes a roll of Kodak Tri-X black and white film.
The company's fixed-lens X series is also getting some updates. The Leica X (Typ 113) features a 16-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor and a 23mm f/1.7 prime lens, which produces a field of view equivalent to a 35mm lens on a full-frame camera. There's no built-in Wi-Fi, but it does support the Visoflex (Typ 020) viewfinder that was introduced with the Leica T; the EVF has built-in GPS. The X (Typ 113) is priced at $2,295. The previous version, the X (Typ 107), will continue to be sold under the X-E (Typ 102) banner; it's priced at $1,795.
Speaking of the T, Leica is bringing two new lenses to market for its uniquely designed mirrorless camera. The Super-Vario-Elmar-T 11-23mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH. is priced at $1,950, and the APO-Vario-Elmar-T 55-135mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH. telezoom will sell for the same price.
Medium-format shooters who use Leica's S system will want to take a close look at the new S (Typ 007). Its 37.5-megapixel sensor isn't the highest resolution in this class—CCD medium format backs can reach 80 megapixels, and the Pentax 645Z and Phase One IQ250 use 50-megapixel CMOS sensors.
But the new S has a few tricks up its sleeve, including the ability to record 4K video at 60fps with 4:2:2 color sampling. It can also capture stills at 3.5fps, and has a maximum ISO 6400 sensitivity. Raw images are captured in DNG format with 16-bit color depth. Wi-Fi and GPS are built-in, and its magnesium alloy body is weather sealed. As you'd expect from a medium-format body, the sensor doesn't feature a low pass filter. The S (Typ 007) is priced at $25,400, and the previous S will live on as the S-E (Typ 006) for $16,900. There's one new S lens, the Summicron-S 100mm f/2 ASPH, which is priced at $7,995 and will be able to capture images with an incredibly shallow depth of field.
Leica is also expanding its D-Lux and V-Lux series. The D-Lux (Typ 109) is based on the Panasonic LX100 and will sell for $1,195. The V-Lux (Typ 114) is Leica's version of the Panasonic FZ1000, and will sell for $1,350.
Leica also announced a new cloud photo storage service, the Leica Fotopark. It's launching as a beta this week. Fotopark includes 10GB of complementary storage, and will have additional storage available to purchase after the beta period ends. You'll also be able to order prints and photo books via the service.