Overview | |
---|---|
Type | 35 mm rangefinder camera |
Released | 2014 |
Lens | |
Lens | Interchangeable lens, Leica M-mount |
Sensor/medium | |
Film format | 35 mm |
Film size | 36 mm x 24 mm |
Film speed | ISO 6-6400 |
Film advance | Manual |
Film rewind | Manual |
Exposure/metering | |
Exposure modes | Manual (M), and Bulb (B) |
Flash | |
Flash | Hot shoe – accessory shoe with centre contact |
Flash synchronization | 1/50s |
Shutter | |
Shutter | mechanically timed horizontal running cloth shutter |
Shutter speed range | 1s - 1/1000s with Bulb and 1/50s flash sync |
Viewfinder | |
Viewfinder | Brightline frame viewfinder with automatic parallax-compensation |
Viewfinder magnification | 0.72x |
General | |
Optional motor drives | Leica Motor-M, Winder-M, Winder 4-P and Winder 4-2 |
Dimensions | 138 mm × 77 mm × 38 mm (5.4 in × 3.0 in × 1.5 in) |
Weight | 578 g (20.4 oz) |
Made in | Germany |
The Leica M-A (Typ 127) is a purely mechanical 35 mm rangefinder camera released by Leica Camera AG in 2014. [1] The camera has no exposure meter, no electronic control, and no battery is required to operate it. The camera is Leica's first purely mechanical camera since the release of the Leica M4-P in 1981. [2]
The Leica M-A is very similar to the Leica M3, which was produced by Leica from 1954 to 1966. The Leica "red dot" has been deliberately omitted. Viewed from the side the M-A is also noticeably slimmer than its digital counterparts. The camera is enclosed in all-metal using chromed brass top & bottom covers. The camera comes in black or silver chrome finish. [3]
The stripped-down features of the M series cameras camera allows the photographer full manual control of all the settings without automation. The ISO dial at the back of the camera serves as a reminder of the sensitivity of the loaded film. The camera is compatible with a wide range of M-mount Lenses from 16 to 135 mm. A lever allows the photographer to change the framing lines to suit three different pairs of lenses: 28/90 mm, 35/135 mm, and 50/75 mm. [3]
A rangefinder camera is a camera fitted with a rangefinder, typically a split-image rangefinder: a range-finding focusing mechanism allowing the photographer to measure the subject distance and take photographs that are in sharp focus. Most varieties of rangefinder show two images of the same subject, one of which moves when a calibrated wheel is turned; when the two images coincide and fuse into one, the distance can be read off the wheel. Older, non-coupled rangefinder cameras display the focusing distance and require the photographer to transfer the value to the lens focus ring; cameras without built-in rangefinders could have an external rangefinder fitted into the accessory shoe. Earlier cameras of this type had separate viewfinder and rangefinder windows; later the rangefinder was incorporated into the viewfinder. More modern designs have rangefinders coupled to the focusing mechanism so that the lens is focused correctly when the rangefinder images fuse; compare with the focusing screen in non-autofocus SLRs.
135 film, more popularly referred to as 35 mm film or 35 mm, is a format of photographic film used for still photography. It is a film with a film gauge of 35 mm (1.4 in) loaded into a standardized type of magazine – also referred to as a cassette or cartridge – for use in 135 film cameras. The engineering standard for this film is controlled by ISO 1007 titled '135-size film and magazine'.
Leica Camera AG is a German company that manufactures cameras, optical lenses, photographic lenses, binoculars, and rifle scopes. The company was founded by Ernst Leitz in 1869, in Wetzlar, Germany. The name Leica is derived from the first three letters of the founder's surname (Leitz) and the first two of the word camera: lei-ca.
Minolta Co., Ltd. was a Japanese manufacturer of cameras, camera accessories, photocopiers, fax machines, and laser printers. Minolta Co., Ltd., which is also known simply as Minolta, was founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1928 as Nichi-Doku Shashinki Shōten. It made the first integrated autofocus 35 mm SLR camera system. In 1931, the company adopted its final name, an acronym for "Mechanism, Instruments, Optics, and Lenses by Tashima".
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The Leica M3 is a 35 mm rangefinder camera by Ernst Leitz GmbH, introduced in 1954. It was a new starting point for Leitz, which until then had only produced screw-mount Leica cameras that were incremental improvements to its original Leica (Ur-Leica). The M3 introduced several features to the Leica, among them the combination of viewfinder and rangefinder in one bright window, like on the Contax II, a bayonet lens mount, and rapid film advance lever. It was the most successful model of the M series, with over 220,000 units sold by the time production of the M3 model ended in 1966.
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The Leica M is a full-frame digital rangefinder camera of Leica Camera AG. It was introduced in September 2012, and is the successor to the Leica M9 range of cameras. The M uses a 24-megapixel image sensor. The camera is the first M model to feature movie recording, and the first to have Live View, which allows the scene, as viewed through the lens, to be composed. The M can use most M- and R-mount lenses. Leica M cameras are made by hand in Portugal and Germany. There is also a version, the M Monochrom, with a monochrome, rather than colour, sensor.
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