Leica is a very interesting company.. actually three companies. But I will focus on the Camera company. I've admired their products from afar, took a small taste in 2018 with an M3, and now in 2026 have gone full blown Leica with an M10 Monochrom as well as an M8. Lenses... not so much. I did have a 90mm f2.8 Emarit-M.. the last f2.8 version, but I found the focal length too stifling. I obviously like Leica, and I believe I have two of the most interesting Leica cameras.. the original M8 with it's CCD sensor and punchy colours, as well as the unique Monochrome sensor in the M10M. So why no lenses? Well.. economics. And that the fact that the laws of economics do not seem to apply to Leica.
Throughout history early adopters paid the novelty tax.. you paid to be first in line. Once that novelty wore off manufacturers would lower their prices to maintain demand. And over time there would be churn, with old products put up for sale in the secondary market, as people upgraded to the new model. This has worked in film days with manual focus moving to autofocus, then into digital, now into mirrorless. At each major inflection point, the previous technology becomes superceded and everyone dumps their gear and it gets cheap as there's less demand for the old stuff. That's how student photographers in the 2000s could afford to buy pro bodied film cameras that had been getisoned by pros. And for a time that law of supply and demand affected Leica as well. Once their R line cameras were declared orphan, their prices took a hit, and even Leica offered discounts to take them off their books. The M line though, perhaps because of it's relative scarcity and, how shall I put this, niche appeal, meant that there weren't all that many bodies or lenses out there, notwithstanding that they'd been produced since 1954.
And since 2006 and the first Leica M, the fortunes of the company have slowly changed for the better. Every few years newer digital M's.. a few hickups with the S morphing into the SL line aside (remember the R film cameras?!).. Certainly Leica has made more mistakes than most camera companies still operating.. they're just still around to tell the tale! And so they have embraced the culture of luxury and exclusivity, and ever new release of film or digital camera, or lens, ups the bar in terms of what it is one cane ask to be paid for a metal box that takes pictures. And every year, like clockwork.. like Rolex, come the price increases. And new prices now do something strange. They make the old stuff more valuable than before. And so we have a continual price inflation that is galloping well ahead of real inflation.
Certainly other Camera and Lens manufacturers are also feeling the pinch. Fewer and fewer interchangeable lens cameras are being sold. And more and more phones are taking their place. So it's not easy for anyone. And competing on price is a fight to the floor. Instead each maker has tried to carve out a niche for themselves in what remains of the photographic market. Canon still leads overall with market share. Nikon is down to 3rd spot from 1st in the manual film age.. but has a loyal following and keeps the pros happy. Sony, the new kid on the block that ushered in the mirrorless revolution, managed a big lead but is now also having to be a bit more strategic. Fujifilm.. well, they just do what they do. And Leica? Well.. they are not fighting for market share. Oh.. no. They keep production manual in expensive factories in Germany and Portugal, and they make as few cameras as possible on any given day.. just because they don't' like keeping pesky inventory lying around.. And plus, if there's less of something around, and people want it.. they'll pay more.
And this.. is what annoys me about Leica. Their contribution to photography has been enormous. They invented 35mm photography. The length of film in a cannister, 36 frames, was the width of two arms outstretched. Can't get more Vitruvian man than that.. Oscar Barnak stretching out his arms to measure film. They gave us small portable cameras in the age of big wooden boxes. They gave us range finder focus. They even gave us autofocus.. but they gave that patent to Minolta (now.. Sony). And yet.. and yet.. notwithstanding that a lot of great photographers around the world used those cameras to make amazing images that are ikons of our history, Leica now makes cameras that are so expensive, that those student photographers I mentioned before will only be able to afford one if their daddy's a millionaire or a dentist. You see tons of famous actors and directors wearing them like jewellery.. but not too many working photographers using them. They have become a fashion accessory, certainly not a tool you take to a war zone. So that even if you are able to afford one, you'll likely not use it out in the real world.
A silver lining.. Remember how I told you I have two Leica cameras but no lenses. So.. how am I using them? Well, it turns out that if Leica won't make accessible lenses for sale for their cameras.. well, other people will! And I have to say, the amount of innovation and products available in the M mount space (and not only.. SL lenses anyone!?) is actually encouraging. A few years ago it was TTArtisan and 7Artisans making budget copies of Leica lenses.. some decent.. some crappy. Now I can't keep count of the lens manufacturers out there (mostly in China) who are making really amazing stuff. Lens Light Lab springs to mind, with their not inexpensive recreations of rare older Leicas. Mandler is recreating some special lenses from the Mandler era (Dr Mandler, chief of Leica Canada for many years).. Artizlab has some other apochromatic lenses coming out. "Voigtlander" (in reality Cosina from Japan) has been making M lenses for many years, and their designs are getting better and better.. So, while it may be heresy to Leicaphiles to put other brand lenses on a Leica body, I am thankful for those other makers out there.
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