Leica Goes Mirrorless

...Er, well, they always sort of were, because Leica traditionally built rangefinders and rangefinders don't have reflex mirrors. But you know what is meant.

The Leica T body is hewn from a single billet of aluminum.

The new Leica T is a mirrorless system camera that is an exercise in modern style and a beautiful design. The back has no buttons whatsoever—it's touchscreen-based, designed to look and feel familiar to anyone who uses a smartphone. The first lenses are a 23mm (35mm-e) ƒ/2 Summicron-T (bravo—historically the perfect and most-chosen lens specification for the Leica M) and an 18–56mm (~28–85mm-e) ƒ/3.5–5.6 zoom. Two more zooms will be along for Photokina in the fall.

There are sure to be more lenses after that. And obviously this will be the best body on which to use adapted M lenses! Maybe not technically, but just in terms of karmic rightness. I'm going to guess the T lenses aren't being made in Germany. That's not any knock against them.

No word on who the electronics partner was—Sony or Panasonic, probably. Dpreview reports that the body with its 16-MP APS-C sensor will cost a bit more than a Sony A7. That's sort of immaterial, as "the higher the price, the better"—target buyers will want high style and exclusivity and be willing to pay for it.

In keeping with the present Leica naming schema the first T will be known as the Type 701.

Of course you can use an SD card as usual, but also, very interestingly, the camera has 16 GB of built-in memory along with Wi-Fi. That means it's the first important camera that you can use without a memory card if you so choose. This has seemed like an obvious potential for some while now and I've been wondering who would be the first to implement it. Figures it would be Leica. It's the only camera company with the courage to be that different.

In fact the Leica T appears to be another "newthink" Kaufmann product for Leica, like the Leica S. This is what Leica currently does best in my humble opinion—Herr Kaufmann and his staff have very good taste in camera aesthetics, operationally and as objects. Although strongly based on existing mirrorless design trends it looks like it refines that style and the experience in meaningful and appropriate ways.

For more, see Andy Westlake's First Impressions review at dpreview. There's also a dedicated official website.

All in all a smart extension of the Leica product portfolio, adding an option without cannibalizing other current products, and one that's sure to create great excitement among Leica's legions of fans.

Mike

P.S. And once again one wonders, where O where can Canikon be?

Original contents copyright 2014 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Kenneth Tanaka: "2010 called. It wants its camera back. Another day-late-thousand-dollars-too-much product from Leica. In a day of the Sony A7/A7R, or even the current Fuji and Oly products, the Leica T is simply a dud. APS-C sensor, slow zoom lenses, no tiltable LCD screen, no integrated EVF, ergonomics that only an NC robot could love. What's to like?! Let's just move on."

Mike replies: Ken, Ken...you're being too harsh!

Derek: "Let Canikon flounder in the new space. With seemingly every other camera brand stepping up to the plate there aren't giant holes in the non-SLR space. We actually have a plethora of beautiful mirrorless and other non-traditional cameras.

"The only loser is my wallet. I used to own a single SLR and was very happy with it. Now I own three cameras and continue lusting after more."

Mike replies: About your last three sentences, I have only one thing to say..."ditto."

Sven Erikson: "Ah, but you didn't mention the prices. That red dot doesn't come cheap. $1,850 for the Leica T body; $1,900 for the 23mm ƒ/2; $1,800 for the 18–56mm ƒ/3.5–5.6. The natural comparison is going to be Fuji—similar style, also 16-MP APS-C mirrorless: $1,300 for the Fuji X-T1 body; $900 for the 23mm ƒ/1.4; $700 for the 18–55mm ƒ/2.8–4."

G Dan Mitchell: "I know, understand, and deeply respect the role Leica had in the generation of the whole small camera phenomenon...they essentially invented the 35mm photography format for still photography and their products pointed the way early on. And when SLR designs came along and supplanted the old rangefinder designs, those who appreciated the older aesthetic still found that Leica produced some of the best equipment that seemed linked with that history.

"However, I wonder how we would react to many of the Leica designs if the exact same cameras came from, say, Canon or Panasonic or Fujifilm or Nikon or Olympus. Take the one in this article. What if the nameplate on this camera was something other than Leica? Would the folks who immediately see in it the historic Leica see it in that case, too? Would they regard its extremely high price as appropriate?"

Jack (partial comment): "It's not $1,000 more than the competition, it's $5,000 less than an M."

John Brewton: "Okay, it's a Leica and all that that entails, and the price is the usual high dollar amount that is certain to appeal to the wealthy crowd as the newest 'accessory,' but I feel the design is a cutting edge tour-de-force. Bravo Leica!"

Fred (partial comment): "Why the removable finder? Olympus made that mistake already, and at a cheaper price!"

kirk: "Interesting. The Samsung Galaxy NX camera had only one dial and almost no buttons anywhere. Used a 4.8-inch touchscreen to control the camera and had 16 gigabytes of internal memory (although nearly 4 gigs went to service the Android OS). Nothing new on the Leica, just a much, much nicer design...."

Mike Plews: "The more I read about this camera the more I admire it and the less I desire it. Truth be told I'm not nearly cool enough to be sporting one anyway. It's kind of like what Warren Buffett said when asked if he wore expensive suits. He said 'Yes, but they look cheap on me.'"

Rui Silva: "All I can say it's a well polished product."

Comments

[Godfrey]

I like the design. I am sure the lenses are terrific. I know the sensor is up to snuff since it's arguably the same as the excellent sensor in my X2. The new EVF is a step up from the X2/M EVF. The controls look great.

Black, 23/2 lens, EVF, leather half case, M to T adapter, spare battery. Sell the X2, the GXR, the M9 bodies. Get the wide zoom when it comes out. That'll do nicely.

[cgw]

This is just aspirational photo-bling and further evidence that Leica is slipping into "branding" a la Hasselblad and not innovating any longer. Sad.

[Nick Rains]

On the subject of the lenses, the 23mm is absolutely stunning. I have one right here and the image quality with this lens is sensational. I also think that the T lacks an AA filter, something I am trying to confirm. Whether it does or not, the crispness of the images straight out of the camera is remarkable. It may be aimed at a slightly different market to hard-core photographers but the IQ is pretty special.
BTW, in the interests of full disclosure I am an Leica M-System Ambassador (in Australia) and have been using the T for the past three weeks.

[Robin]

If this camera had any name engraved other than Leica, would there be a single post not denigrating it as an overpriced, stale mess? Who would buy this instead of a Fuji or Olympus?

[Gabe Bandy]

Leica innovations.

Not to pour salt into an open camera bottom, but how often was Leica an innovator? If you consider the M9 as an innovation then 2009 was the most recent. Nicely done, and a reasonable price (for Leica) offering good performance - sold as many as they made.

The M8 as innovation? Nope. The title of 1st interchangeable lens digital rangefinder belongs to the wonderful, slightly wacky Epson RD.

Then the S series. True innovation, announced 2008 shipped late 2009, $23,000 for the body, $5,000 more for the sapphire glassed body with extra tech support. Lenses? Ouch. Sell the car. Arguably the very best camera you could shoot with at the time ... and still going strong. Medium format from the innovator of 35mm. Alas, also the death of Leica reflexes and fine "R" lenses.

Another millenium innovation - the ingenious, high quality, expensive, interchangeable digital back for the R8/R9. Not because Leica wanted to .... they were forced to. They couldn't autofocus with the hardware they had, and the M8 wasn't here yet - so they advertised digital quality with no compromise! Genius! Until just a few months before the M9 was announced, they claimed they couldn't make a full frame digital RF, so this back was it.

Announced 2003, released 2005,it was about 4,500 Euros at launch. Huge development costs, high quality and price, early demise (sourcing problems), and birth of M8.

Innovation before the millennium? 1953 and 1954. The M3. The camera that was the greatest innovation since the original, early 1900s O series.

Leica maketh haste slowly, and that's good - very good. They had the opportunity to develop, over-develop, perfect and protect. They earned all the accolades of numerous famed photographers' dependence on their cameras and lenses. They tried to keep going forever like that.

This "T" camera, as well as all the Panasonic rebadges (film & digital), the X, they're bread & butter. The S series (still $22,000) is caviar. The M series ranges from hamburger to steak. And I for one hope Leica exists forever - they deserve to.

While not exactly pursuing the Hasselblad re-badge bull, it's more like Aston Martin. The famed automaker needing to meet it's corporate mileage and emissions requirements bought tiny, two seat, high mileage "smart car" city cars from Toyota. They installed an Aston grille and badge, a "bespoke" leather interior, and charged a bespoke price. It's a Scion IQ in tne U.S. at $16,000-$18,000. In the U.K. the Aston Martin Cygnet was 31,000 UK pounds or US $52,000. They started this program in 2009, intending to sell 2,000 per year, and apparently there are 148 on U.K. roads. You mean you'd rather have a BMW for the money? Aston just dropped the poor thing - which has now become an instant collectible!

Innovation sure is a bitch.

Cheers
Gabe

[Nick Rains]

Just a follow up - the T has no AA filter. The images are super crisp, even at 200% on an MBP retina screen they look good.

[A. Costa]

Well, taking that I'm not a Leica lover (I've shot for many months with an M5 and found all this rangefinder thing is not for me), I still think that a camera body with great IQ and current technology and the option to use M series lens + an f/2 35mm equivalent FoV lens all at around 4000$ = very smart move from Leica. They will sold a ton of that.

[Dan Khong]

The "DARTH VADER" appearance of this camera is quite sinisteringly eye catching.