The Real "Poor Mans Leica." [A Brief History of the Leica R]

Фильм және анимация

Today, I talk a little bit about an SLR camera with a special place in my heart, the Leica R series of camera bodies. Produced from 1964-2009, with the most popular cameras of the lineup being the Leica R4 and the Leicaflex SL, this series of camera bodies can get you into some of the very best lenses in the world without bankrupting you with the camera body price alone. So sit back, relax, and let’s look back at the history of the Leica R series.
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There are a few things that come to mind when people think about Leica cameras. One of those things is image quality, yes, but one of the more popular topics of discussion when it comes to this over-century year old glass and camera manufacturer is its extraordinary price tag. The Leica M3 still sells online today, over 70 years after its initial production, for upwards of $1000; and if you want a modern Leica, you better be ready to spend at least 5k on a full setup if you’re lucky.
But within all the glitters, there is still some real gold. You see, Leica didn’t just produce rangefinders for war photojournalists and hipsters, they also took a real swing at the SLR game starting back in the mid-1960s. In 1964, Leica released its first-ever single-lens reflex camera, the Leicaflex, a fully manual and mechanical SLR with no frills, but as sleek in design and compact as they come. While the Leicaflex was a great camera, it never really gained the spotlight thanks to its Japanese competitors-canon, Nikon, Pentax, overtaking Leica in their electronics and undercutting Leica’s prices.
Enter Minolta: Minolta was making some badass film SLR cameras for cheap, I mean like, super cheap and accessible to a far broader audience than Leica, and they had been dabbling in the single-lens reflex game since 1958. Remember, Leica didn’t produce their first SLR until 1964, and Minolta had fully capitalized on that gap, putting themselves in a substantially better position for the direction photography was taking at that time, than good ole Leica.
So naturally, as you do when you’re two amazing camera manufacturers with strengths in different areas, Minolta and Leica partnered up, sharing their patents with each other and ultimately creating the Leica R3, Leica’s first electronically-controlled shutter including, TTL center-weighted metering, big, bad, SLR. Nowadays, The r bodies themselves are not that much money, so if you want to get into Leica glass, but you don’t want to spend your life savings on your camera body before you even buy any lenses, you might also consider the r3, or possibly an r6, if you want to spend a bit more to get that sleeker body design, and the 1/2000th of a second shutter speed that comes with the r6.2.
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Go to: nuun.dev/ to see more of my work or get in contact for a project.
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Personal Instagram: / alecjlangton
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Current Fav Film Camera: Rollei 6008 Integral
Current Fav Film Lens: Leica 100mm f/2.8 APO
Fav Digital Cam: Canon EOS R
Fav Digital Lens: Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8L IS USM
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Used for this video:
Leica R3 Electronic
Leica 100mm APO Macro Elmarit-R
Leica Summicron-R 50mm f/1.8
iPhone 11 Pro Max
Moment 1.33 Anamorphic Lens
DJI Osmo 3 Mobile Gimbal
Canon EOS RP
EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5
Rode Videomic Pro
Zoom H5 Audio Recorder
Saramonic UwMic 15 Wireless Lavalier System
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Music Credits:
Dj Quads
Track Name: "It's Near"
Music By: Dj Quads @ / aka-dj-quads
Original upload HERE - • Video

Пікірлер: 72

  • @pepsiplease69
    @pepsiplease693 жыл бұрын

    Gave a ‘like’ just because the peanut butter and jelly remark made me chuckle.

  • @stefdnk4428
    @stefdnk44284 жыл бұрын

    Well, they weren’t that cheap when new 😋 I switched from Leicaflex SL2- mot to R4 when it was introduced. The R3 was never a Pro Camera. The SL2-mot was built like a tank, you Could litterally hammer nails in with it, but the motor had a tendency to short circuit. The R4s were smaller , lighter , faster and worked perfect, as long as you stayed in manual mode. In any auto mode being shutter or Aperture priority, they broke Down. And you Got a new one from Leica. I had more than 40 ! R4 bodies. One of them in less than an hour!. Then came R5, full electronic and with the same electronic problems. I settled Down with the R6 until C anon took over with the Eos and autofocus. I did love my reflexs (when they functioned) and lenses. The best lenses being the 24/2,8 ( minolta) and 280/2,8 for sport. But cheap, never.

  • @jacksonlones6881
    @jacksonlones68814 жыл бұрын

    Hey man, really enjoyed the vid! Also big fan of the humbleness & humility lol, I am also not worthy of such a brand quite yet but very interested in getting the R6.2 one day and found this video very helpful. Keep it up man!

  • @AirborneKrew801
    @AirborneKrew8014 жыл бұрын

    Dude this is impressive! Super interesting! -Christian

  • @zone6789
    @zone67893 жыл бұрын

    Good video. In 1995 I bought a used Leica R4s from Leica dealer Jim Kuehl for $600, as a “cheap” platform to the R lenses, which are as good as M-series lenses. Today a brand new (not used) R4 is about $400. Great cameras, and R-series lenses are cheap now. If you get sick of film, just mount the R lenses on a Canon DSLR (with exceptions) or just about any mirrorless digital camera and shoot in aperture priority mode. They will not eclipse a modern Zeiss lens but they are still pretty good. I still have my R6 but don’t use it anymore.

  • @catey62

    @catey62

    Жыл бұрын

    I have a 90mm Elmarit lens that came with my Leica R8 when I bought it. amazing lens that can render photo's that have an almost 3D look in the right conditions.

  • @richardsimms251
    @richardsimms2516 ай бұрын

    Great video. Thank you. RS. Canada

  • @jason41a
    @jason41a3 жыл бұрын

    great video mate you deserve way more views and subs

  • @dmburke007
    @dmburke0074 жыл бұрын

    Nice video, Thank you, where did you get the music, love this. Grocery store music!! D

  • @Sochmo18
    @Sochmo184 жыл бұрын

    Great vid! I had an R4 before I realized I could buy Nikon f bayonet mount to fit my Leica r lenses for 12 bucks on eBay, and yes they reach infinity focus. you should look into that man!

  • @118bouncer

    @118bouncer

    4 жыл бұрын

    Woahh. I'm trying to use Leica R lenses on my Nikon F3! What are these adapters?

  • @paulsehstedt6275
    @paulsehstedt62754 жыл бұрын

    The R 6.2 was a super camera.The R-lenses are also high quality and can easily be used with an adapter on a M240 or M10 as I do. Nice review!

  • @AlecLangton

    @AlecLangton

    4 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for the valuable additional info!!

  • @povaliaeva

    @povaliaeva

    Жыл бұрын

    do you know by chance, is it possible to use the opposite - m-mount zeiss with R-body?

  • @Pokemonism007
    @Pokemonism0074 жыл бұрын

    Miss you man, great video brother. -Andres

  • @AlecLangton

    @AlecLangton

    4 жыл бұрын

    Andres!! Miss you man! Let's catch up sometime soon!

  • @Pokemonism007

    @Pokemonism007

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@AlecLangton yes, after this godforsaken quarantine!

  • @VirtualGuth
    @VirtualGuth2 жыл бұрын

    Lots of great food for thought.

  • @Sams911
    @Sams9114 жыл бұрын

    interesting video, came up while I was looking for M10R videos... poor mans? That thing sells for over 8 grand!

  • @akoako37
    @akoako373 жыл бұрын

    Thanks. Love the video. Waiting for my R4 in the mail.

  • @AlecLangton

    @AlecLangton

    3 жыл бұрын

    Thx for the watch! Appreciate it 🖤

  • @voradorlinux

    @voradorlinux

    3 жыл бұрын

    How are you liking your R4?

  • @error4159
    @error41593 жыл бұрын

    You're right, the price of a R3, R4 or R5 body isn't insane (yet) but the price of the lenses is. $400 (starting price) for a 50mm Summicron-R or a 35mm Elmairt-R is crazy.

  • @voradorlinux

    @voradorlinux

    3 жыл бұрын

    Hate to say this but lenses is what really costs in this hobby... Camera bodies come and go all the time but lenses are the real investment for life... Cheers! 🍺😉👍🏻

  • @spooky_lights
    @spooky_lights3 ай бұрын

    Subbed. Nice video!

  • @IronMartialArts
    @IronMartialArts3 жыл бұрын

    You’re like the photography Shane Fazen. Dope

  • @-webfootoctopus7896
    @-webfootoctopus78964 жыл бұрын

    You deserve more subscribers

  • @JamieMPhoto
    @JamieMPhoto4 жыл бұрын

    Nice summary of the history! It definitely helped me get it sorted out better than I usually understand the R-mount story. Thank you!

  • @bumblebee5926
    @bumblebee59263 жыл бұрын

    I’d be happy with a Leica R series camera.

  • @Simon74
    @Simon742 жыл бұрын

    Nice video!

  • @AlecLangton

    @AlecLangton

    2 жыл бұрын

    Thanks!

  • @anthonyvaughan1549
    @anthonyvaughan15493 жыл бұрын

    Could u tell me how the timer is suposed to work on a R4 also the aperture leaver over it ?

  • @parttime9070
    @parttime90702 жыл бұрын

    Last time I looked R-8's could be found for under 600 bucks, it's the glass that will set you back some money.. The 90mm, 24mm, 50mm are all great glass.. The 60mm macro is awesome.. The R-9 even has a Digital back for it, it's likely the first digital SLR..

  • @Anarki2U
    @Anarki2U4 жыл бұрын

    What about a long history with the Leica R lenses ;)

  • @Edgy01
    @Edgy017 ай бұрын

    Hardly any professionals followed the Leica R line in photojournalism. They pulled out after the SL2. With a couple of MOT Leicaflexes and even a regular chrome SL, I find them to be highly robust. The motors can be a little problematic. The people buying up the R glass today are using mirror less digital bodies, like the Sony or the Leica SL or SL2S. With a simple adaptor you can run M series lenses or with an M to R adaptor, run any of the R lenses. One of the best by far is the APO Macro Elmarjt 100mm f2.8 lens which provides incredible macro capability. It’s on a par or better than the Nikkor 200mm macro ED AF lens. Leica was slow on the uptake in the SLR world and quickly eclipsed by Japanese manufacturers like Nikon and Canon. The Leicaflex SL2’s claim to fame was being dropped out of an F104 Star Fighter at about 20,000’ with its 50mm lens and being found reparable by Leica once they pulled it out of a snowbank. I don’t think they bothered to repair it because it still worked! But they liked the bragging rights. The Leicaflex bodies (pre-Minolta) were built to extremely exacting standards and ultimately cost Leica more to assemble than they got in the sale price. Leitz thought it would make up in body cost losses with lens sales. The R lenses do get somewhat complex with the various cams integrated over the intervening years. By the time the Leica R8 and R9 came out everyone was done with the SLR. My go to non auto focus camera is the digital Leica SL2S, although I still have at least 50 Nikkor lenses from 7.5mm to 1000mm. All can be mounted on the mirror less SL2S. The R lenses are still a bargain for digital shooters, compared to their prices when new. The most important thing to keep in mind are (1) ensure it is multi coated and (2) feature APO glass when the focal length is over 150mm. (APO glass is very similar to Nikon’s ED glass). This is a good start for folks interested in Leica, but keep in mind that these bodies are getting old. Keep your self on top of optics over bodies. Optics change very little while the older bodies simply cannot keep up today. Optically, the R lenses are the same as the M glass, but they are physically larger-that’s a plus for the M lenses-smaller physically.

  • @stuartwalker121

    @stuartwalker121

    3 ай бұрын

    The best living pro photographer alive today and ex Magnum President used R6. Sebastiao Salgado's images made with the simple Leica R system are just out of this world.

  • @roberth.5185
    @roberth.51853 жыл бұрын

    The Leica mystique resides safely in the mind of the beholder.

  • @nicbreinholt5212
    @nicbreinholt52124 жыл бұрын

    I dont like cameras but I do like you ❤️

  • @AlecLangton

    @AlecLangton

    4 жыл бұрын

  • @ProjectMockingbird
    @ProjectMockingbird4 жыл бұрын

    I have the R4 with the Sumicron and a few other lenses (35-75, 135), and it's a very nice camera body, the Sumicron being the standout, and yeah, I think it's as good as the M mount Sumi. It's a very nice system, and not too big, but also not the smallest camera, but the lenses OOOZE quality in throw, handling and IQ. I am also a big Olympus OM user, and find the R4 to be less troublesome than my OM's...they haven't aged as well, but glass-wise, I find them to be very very similar in IQ but OM lenses are MUCH cheaper than even R glass any more, but they are nowhere close to feeling as good as the Leica glass in the hand and in quality.

  • @adventureStaley
    @adventureStaley4 жыл бұрын

    Nice. Have an M. Still want an R.

  • @Preparation98

    @Preparation98

    4 жыл бұрын

    They're out there and they're not too bad! The glass is so much cheaper but no loss of quality!

  • @VariTimo
    @VariTimo3 жыл бұрын

    If you want a Leica rangefinder your best bet is the M5. It’s actually incredibly good and even nicer to use than the M6, if you can handle the slightly larger size and weight. It has the most accurate TTL meter of any Leica to this day and very good ergonomics. You can get cheep Russian lenses for less than a hundred bucks or the quite good 7Artians lenses for less than $500. If you want to get close to Leica quality level: Voigtländer glass is incredible at $700- $1.2k and while it’s not quite as flawless as the Leica equivalent. It’s still amazing with very comparable colors.

  • @filmniyom
    @filmniyom4 жыл бұрын

    R3 cool camera😊

  • @antothemanto77
    @antothemanto774 жыл бұрын

    The Leicaflex SL and SL2 are my favorite out of Leica’s SLR’s

  • @voradorlinux

    @voradorlinux

    3 жыл бұрын

    Agree! But difficult to find one in really good shape. I settled for a Leica R6.2 but honestly I don't think it is worth of the praise it gets online, granted it is built like a tank but something quite doesn't jive with this camera as a Leica branded machine.

  • @dariomendoza9136
    @dariomendoza91364 жыл бұрын

    i Saw some of them in Munich, but the thing is that the camera body might not break my bank account but buying a Lens will. :(

  • @AlecLangton

    @AlecLangton

    4 жыл бұрын

    It's true, the lenses are the best part visually, and the worst part economically.

  • @depotmsa2362
    @depotmsa23623 жыл бұрын

    R8 ftw

  • @PranksOfTheYouth
    @PranksOfTheYouth2 жыл бұрын

    Leica D Lux 7 (Series) Brief History Please. Also consider a baby Leica (Poor Mans Leica?)

  • @veronemani
    @veronemani Жыл бұрын

    A helpful video on my way to become a lowlife Leica owner

  • @kevin-parratt-artist
    @kevin-parratt-artist2 жыл бұрын

    Some of the M and R lenses are optically identical.

  • @cevisuals
    @cevisuals2 жыл бұрын

    Sure, the bodies aren't priced out of reach... the lenses are another matter... Even for R series lenses

  • @AlecLangton

    @AlecLangton

    2 жыл бұрын

    This is a very fair point 😅

  • @error4159
    @error41592 жыл бұрын

    The bodies are cheap but the lenses cost the usual high ass Leica prices. Quality of the R lenses is good but they're not better than the lenses from the Japanese vendors.

  • @highfunctioningfailure5191
    @highfunctioningfailure51913 жыл бұрын

    Is it too late to ask ? I found a Leica r4 body only what kind of (not too expensive) lens can I purchase?? Please please 🙏 💗

  • @justinthompson5718

    @justinthompson5718

    3 жыл бұрын

    The elmarit-r 90mm f2.8 is the cheapest r lens that I found when shopping for r lenses. The next cheapest would be a50mm f2 or 35mm f2.8. I just bought an elmarit 35mm f2.8 for my R5. Be sure to get a 2 cam or 3 cam if you want metering.

  • @idreaminsurfgreen5327
    @idreaminsurfgreen53273 жыл бұрын

    the m3 goes for between 800-1600... over 2k with a lens, sure.

  • @rid.
    @rid.3 жыл бұрын

    Leica is the best

  • @Seuxnehpets
    @Seuxnehpets2 жыл бұрын

    Instead of calling it a poor men's Leica, call it rich men's Minolta.

  • @n0w3lly90
    @n0w3lly90 Жыл бұрын

    It was FAR from being the "poor man's Leica" back in the day mate! In the 1980s, for instance, the Leica Rs and the lenses were the most expensive SLR products you could buy!

  • @ChrisOBrienMusic
    @ChrisOBrienMusic2 жыл бұрын

    Definitely would never recommend an R3 or a SL2. The R3 is known for having lots of problems with electronics. Just google it. The SL2 on the other hand could probably fall out of a plan and still work. And if you know how to use a light meter, you can use it without batteries. Pure mechanical camera that will still be working fine in another 50 years. Unlike the R3.

  • @Sebastian-jf5cp

    @Sebastian-jf5cp

    Жыл бұрын

    The R3 of my Grandpa that was used all over the world since 1978 and is still working after 44 years of use and abuse. The good thing is that the R3 prices are low because of comments like this from people who never even owned the camera. You could easily buy 4-6 R3's for one R6.2 and repair anything that might break.

  • @ChrisOBrienMusic

    @ChrisOBrienMusic

    Жыл бұрын

    @@Sebastian-jf5cp In fairness to me, a simple google search will show that what I've said is accurate - on average. And of course getting an R3 repaired isn't childsplay,. Leica dealers won't fix them, parts are no longer made, etc.

  • @jasongold6751
    @jasongold675110 ай бұрын

    A piece of crap, the R4! I have never met anyone where it worked 100%. The lenses need different cams, very expensive! So Leica R lenses may not work..Minolta version way less expensive, work better.. Better than crap! Geez, tha's lousy. Mine work in non auto exposure. It's very wrong to push crap for newbies to film.. My Minolta lenses are awfully similar tp Leica-R ! same flares, same lovely images..

  • @jazzyman9959
    @jazzyman9959 Жыл бұрын

    show some respect to SL2 !!! you describe like SL2 was failure but it wasn't. SL2 is kinda upmost mechanical SLR in camera history. they cooperated with Minolta to know how to make some profit by make products in less perfect way than SL2, because they made some loss from the way they made SL2. -makeing perfect thing cost much.

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