The Ultimate Icon: Leica Re-Introduces the M6

Even the box is an homage

"Iconic" is a buzzword that is heavily overused now—everything mildly familiar, no matter how trivial, is called "iconic"—but, today, Leica re-introduced the, yes, iconic M6 film camera.

The new version is highly respectful of the 1984–2002 original, down to having "Leitz" on the red dot. Which might have taken some doing—the founding Leitz family sold Leica in 1986 and originally forbade the new owners from using the cherished family name. However, the new one's not an out-and-out replica. There are a number of technical updates and luxurious touches.

• All optical surfaces will be coated. At one point, under earlier owners, Leica tried to cut corners with coatings in the rangefinder optics. Users for a spell complained of spurious reflections in the finder, a problem Leica hastily fixed without admitting there was a problem.
• The top plate will be made of brass with a tough black lacquer. (Black paint is—all right—iconic.)
• The original M6 (basically the Canadian M4-P with an uncoupled light meter cleverly added) just had two little arrows that told you which way to turn the aperture ring to get proper exposure. Later models added a red dot in between the two arrows as confirmation of correct exposure; the new M6 has the red confirmation dot.
• The shutter speed dial is the right size and turns the right way! A victory for the way things are supposed to be.
• A low battery warning has been added. All right, but it took more than a year to run down the battery in an original M6. The quaint but pleasing custom was to replace the battery every year on your birthday, whether it needed replacing or not. You apparently need a newfangled nagging nanny warning. Okay, we're good with that. Me, I hate the tire pressure warning system in my Honda. The old tire pressure warning system was me with a pressure gauge, and it worked much better. Am I digressing again?

There is also a new and (gasp!) tiny (another win for the way things are supposed to be) 35mm Summilux V1 Steel Rim, which Jono Slack has been using for months now.

Cue gushy happy YouTubby comparos between vintage Leitz-labeled '80s M6's and the gleaming new one in 3, 2....

Mike

P.S. If you're buying one, a plea to wait until B&H has 'em for preorder so you can use my links...okay, you're probably not that patient. I understand. Go ahead, I'll eat cat food.  :-]

Book o' the Week

Leica M: Advanced Photo School by Günter Osterloh, second edition. My favorite of all the Leica gear books. And they are legion. You will actually learn practical stuff from this one. Used, but this is the latest edition from 2011.

The book link above is a portal to any purchase at Amazon. You're very kind use our links, as they help support the site.

Original contents copyright 2020 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. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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

Rob L: "Cool! My M6 is again a current model!  :-)  It's really the best M, so glad they brought her back."

John Krill: "I guess if I have to ask the price I can't afford it."

Mike replies: $5,295 body only. Bear in mind there are lots of choices for lenses that don't have to cost an arm and a leg and an arm. Especially from Voigtlaender and Zeiss.

Albert Smith: "Maybe this old-school lens might be a good compliment to the new M6. Leica is reissuing the first generation pre-aspheric 35mm ƒ/1.4 Summilux, same optics in modern body. You could drop 10 grand for the camera and lens. So glad the I bought my M6 when it only cost $2,000 in the late '80s."

Mike replies: Not that it matters, but I myself coined the term "king of bokeh," way back in '97. But not about the original of that lens.

Ned Bunnell: "Mike, regarding your B&H link, I was told the M6 will only be sold through Leica stores and Leica direct here in the U.S. And in very small quantities. So it’ll be interesting to see if B&H gets them."

Mike replies: Figures. So it's just another special edition after all, for collectors.

Ned: "Mike, this is not a special edition just for collectors. By 'small quantities,' I simply meant they’re being made by hand in Germany so production yields will obviously be much smaller than a company who builds a large production run at the start of a new model release. Depending on the response Leica gets, it could be awhile before you get your camera. I also am guessing that Leica knows what used M6’s are going for these days, so they decided they could capture a good percent of this money by offering a new model. I actually think this is a smart move on their part. Since they still have all the tooling for the M6, development costs are much less than designing and building a brand new model."

Rob Campbell (partial comment): "Film only makes sense if it returns to pre-digital price levels. Other than that, it’s just a silly conceit."

Luke: "Wait...you have to buy a whole new sensor after every few shots? How 'iconic.'"

Ernest Zarate: "Shortly after I got the settlement for the motorcycle accident in which I nearly lost my lower left leg, I bought myself a new M6. Looked just like this, presentation box and all. I got the Leica 35mm ƒ/2 lens, too. Terrific camera. So precise and extremely well engineered. Very…German. But it got sold a few years later so I could get the Mamiya 6.

"Now, that camera was a masterpiece. But I do think of my M6 now and then. I don’t regret selling it. And I’m not laying down the thousands of dollars for this brand new re-intro version (though if I had the do re mi…hmmm…). But I do think of it now and then. That Leica *snick* shutter mechanism was and is intoxicating. In the end, it wasn’t the right camera for me. We never really clicked, it and me. I never did any memorable or really meaningful work with it. Maybe in a sense it was too much camera, or, rather, it was too freighted with the Leica Legacy for me. It was too much a hurdle to get over. A camera (for me) has to be a tool, form following function, that gets me results. That just never happened with this camera. Anyway, it’s a very nice memory I have and I’m happy to see the M6 back."

Alan King: "It’s interesting that they re-issued the original 35mm Summilux. I owned one of the originals, made in Germany, from the second-to-last batch. For myself the lens was unusable wide open, though it was fine stopped down. It was my primary lens for 12 years or so because it was so small and light. When its value hit $3,000 it finally became too expensive to keep. I ended up buying three brand new Voigtländer lenses, and a certain peace of mind, with the money."

Comments

[Mark Sampson]

Well, I love this idea. A great working tool brought back from the dead, when does that happen? I'd happily go back to shooting 35mm if I had one of these.
(I still miss the M6TTL that I bought in 2000, and had to sell in 2010.)

[Chuck Albertson]

It's the MP in mufti, with the return of that angled film rewind crank that everyone was whining about.

[If you had used both types of rewind crank, you'd know. --Mike]

[Ken Tanaka]

Looks like a lovely new-old camera! I am happy for all the film devotees who have asked Leica for such a product. $5,300 is certainly steep but, really, not out of line when compared to what people have been paying for 25th-hand original M6's, eh?

And that "steel-rimmed" 35mm Summilux f/1.4 would make the costume complete! Snazzy! (As my father used to say.)

[Andrew]

I'm thrilled to see Leica continue to make film cameras. I actually like the larger M6 TTL shutter speed dial and flash metering, but I recognize I'm in the minority. If Leica is going to bring back a camera, the M6 classic is the right one.

Let's hope they can keep up with demand. MPs and M-As aren't easily found in stock.

[Mark]

I have a vintage M6, purchased in early 1985 from Calumet Photo.
I had to send it in for repair a few years later because the shutter jammed...upon its return from the Leica repair center in New Jersey the "Leitz" red dot had been replaced with a "Leica" red dot.

Just thought this would be of interest to your readers.

[Mike Ferron]

Quick research shows me that other than small production large format cameras this M6 might be the only “real” film camera being manufactured. (Toys and instants excluded)

[Larry Gebhardt]

I'm not a Leica, or really much of a 35mm film, shooter but I think this a great move. I hope other camera companies follow their lead. I'd love to see the Hasselblad V series make a return.

[Joeb]

Gosh you mean I have to wait for B&H?
I should buy 2- one to use, one to sell at an
incredibly inflated price once they run out.
Kidding....yes.

[Dan Khong]

Mike

Your post is making all film users excited. I am glad I did not jettison any of my film gear when the naysayers declared (more than 20 years back) that, "Film is dead!"

Look at how prices of vintage film cameras are slowly going up in eBay. So why buy new? There are lots of pre-loved M6 waiting to be revived with a good CLA.

And I still have my Apo-Rodagons and Focotars in the darkroom.

Dan K.

[Alex G]

I'm not a Leica person*, could someone explain to me why this matters? Leica already had the M-A and MP. What does the M6 add to the mix and why are people treating this as a significant milestone on the road to the second film age?

* I inherited a M3 and promptly realized that I didn't care for it. Unfortunately I sold it when such things were still valued in the three figures.

[Daniel]

Want to bet the repair/replacement of the battery low warning will cost more than replacing all four sensors in your vehicles tires?

Still and all it is a darn good looking camera.

[Ilkka]

To me the M6TTL is the real last classic. Sure you can say the same about the I, II, M3, M4 or M6 but the M6TTL was the last fully mechanical Leica and the most sophisticated one, without compromising the fully mechanical battery free operation.

[Jeff]

The press release (at end of linked article) says that the M6 will also be available at authorized dealers.

https://www.reddotforum.com/content/2022/10/leica-relaunches-iconic-m6-analog-rangefinder-with-modern-updates/

[Tom Burke]

Interesting decision by Leica, but way too much money for me. And why doesn’t the TTL get any love? I had one of them and enjoyed using it, to a point.

Books: I think I still have a copy of that Leica M Photography book, and it is indeed a good tutorial on film photography. Even better was the 1st Edition, which included a good account of the older Leica M cameras. I definitely have a copy of that but it’s very fragile - the binding glue is failing and a number of pages are loose. I gather this is a common problem with this book.

[Ernest Zarate]

Shortly after I got the settlement for the motorcycle accident in which I nearly lost my lower left leg, I bought myself a new M6. Looked just like this, presentation box and all. I got the Leica 35mm f/2 lens, too.

Terrific camera. So precise and extremely well engineered. Very… German.

But it got sold a few years later so I could get the Mamiya 6. Now, that camera was a masterpiece.

But I do think of my M6 now and then. I don’t regret selling it. And I’m not laying down the thousands of dollars for this brand new re-intro version (though if I had the do re mi…hmmm…). But I do think of it now and then. That Leica *snick* shutter mechanism was and is intoxicating.

In the end, it wasn’t the right camera for me. We never really clicked, it and me. I never did any memorable or really meaningful work with it. Maybe in a sense it was too much camera, or, rather, it was too freighted with the Leica Legacy for me. It was too much a hurdle to get over. A camera (for me) has to be a tool, form following function, that gets me results. That just never happened with this camera.

Anyway, it’s a very nice memory I have and I’m happy to see the M6 back.

[Chris]

I wonder if they will offer it with the 0.58 viewfinder? As a spectacle-wearer I love my M6 TTL with the 0.58 viewfinder paired with the 35 Summicron lens. At one point I was even able to "upgrade" the baseplate with one from an M4-P, to let me use my IXMOO reloadable cartridges. Wonderful camera. :)

[marcin wuu]

Another buzzword, that I used after getting a used M6 (for more money that I could spend back then) is "overrated". Turns out, I'm not a Leica Man. Luckily, as Mike said more than once, these things always sell for more than you pay for them.

[Kye Wood]

"Mike replies: $5,295 body only. Bear in mind there are lots of choices for lenses that don't have to cost an arm and a leg and an arm. Especially from Voigtlaender and Zeiss."

So... like an arm and a leg and an arm and a kidney?

I'm happy to pay whatever is required, provided I feel I'm getting value for my money. As a non Leica owner, can I ask, do they represent value?

[vincent garofalo]

Mike, Leica Director of Marketing Andrea Pacella said the M6 will be a full production model, not a special edition.

[Rob Campbell]

Film only makes sense if it returns to pre-digital price levels. Other than that, it’s just a silly conceit. I used to suffer from the same film-thought malaise, but longer experience with digital eventually told me that hanging on to past techniques, if they are priced stupidly, makes no sense.

Apart from anything else, our old, good, papers have vanished, and the chemistry is bad for the environment, use of such materials something we cannot any longer honourably sustain because we no longer have lack of information behind which to hide ourselves.

If folks have the dosh to buy cameras as investments or, perhaps, because of love for their looks, fine, but to use?

[Chris]

I too had an M6TTL, which I assume is essentially the same as the new M6 (if it has TTL flash capability). Wonderful camera. It would be good if they also brought back the later, small, autowinder, which paired beautifully with the M6, particularly for shooting in a portrait orientation.

[PWL]

My suspicion is that it is a MP in clothing. Certain of the features are the same as those in the MP, and I note the price is the same as the MP’s (at least from what I see at B&H). So I’m a little puzzled as to why Leica did this, instead of hyping the MP… Kind of like when a product is hyped as “new and improved,” when it’s essentially still the same product?

[Doug Chadwick]

I was amused to see that Leica pictured the "new" M6 with the "king of bokeh" 35mm Summicron rather than a Summilux. I considered it an homage to you and all the other folks who regard is as "the great one"

Although I still have my M6, I never had that version of the 35mm, going from it's predecessor to and Asph. Both good lenses, but I wonder......

[Doug Chadwick]

Oops, I just saw a larger version of that photo, and it's a 50mm, not a 35mm sitting on the counter with it. Oh well, I guess I was just fooling myself.

[terence morrissey]

This concludes the debate what Leica M film camera to buy.

[David Lee]

I still have my two M6’s. Would love to sell them and get an M10.

[hugh crawford]

“Go ahead, I'll eat cat food. :-]”
Obviously not a cat owner, oh the stink of that stuff!

[scott kirkpatrick]

Waiting for B&H to offer a new Leica model in any of the top lines has been a waste of time for quite a while now. I always sign up to be notified, just for grins, and the emails keep coming in every two weeks promising any day now, for 12-18 months at least after announcement. Then the stock finally reaches B&H. The truly obsessive ping the B&H website (hopefully through your link) once a day and sometimes score sooner. Big Leica stores keep waiting lists, and these are long, too, but clear much sooner than at B&H. The only fast way that has worked for me is to call very SMALL Leica stores, or local stores that have made an effort to keep a good relationship with the regional Leica rep. Or to work with the Leica USA online store, which sells 'em as they get 'em, without a waiting list.

I would imagine that reissued M6 sales will work like this, perhaps with the local non-Leica stores out of the loop. But my M2, purchased in Chicago in 1969 well-used but renewed by Sherry Krauter in 2007, scratches that particular itch just fine.

[scott kirkpatrick]

Adding to Ned's comment: From comments on the Leica forum, it's clear that Leica did at least a quick reengineering of the M-6 to locate suppliers of the electronic and other components where the originals had vanished or more integrated and durable replacement parts were available. The original coin cells may not be legal any more. Some cost reduction probably also was accomplished. And why refresh the last film M, which looks identical to all the digital Ms, when you can offer an M6? Makes good sense to me.

[Kodachromeguy]

"Film only makes sense if it returns to pre-digital price levels. Other than that, it’s just a silly conceit." Some photographers like the appearance of film images and/or the mechanical aspects of using film. It's really that simple.

[Carsten Bockermann]

From 1991 through 2004 I photographed almost exclusively with Leica M6 cameras. I loved them, as they were as simple as a camera can get and did just what I wanted them to do.
The problem is that I can't see myself shooting film ever again.