2014 is special year for Leica. The company celebrates 100 years of Leica photography and specially for that occasion Leica has developed an entire range of new products. Some of the items are the Leica M Edition 100 set as well as a silver M Monochrom option, a “new” Leica M-A analog film camera, a new lens (the Summilux-M 28mm f/1.4 ASPH), the new Valbray EL1 Chrono watch and more! Especially for centennial Leica has released another limited edition: the Leica M 100th Anniversary Edition. With the unique “100 Years of Leica” logo engraved on top plate, the camera is limited to 500 copies worldwide. Specification-wise, it is identical to the current model. Available In a silver chrome or black painted version, this special edition is available for the same price as the normal version!
The Leica M features a newly-designed, high resolution, 24-Megapixel CMOS sensor in full 35 mm format – the Leica Max 24-MP sensor. When combined with the Leica Maestro image processor, only outstanding images are created. Additionally, the low noise performance makes the M ideal for available-light photography.
The classic rangefinder system offers fast, precise, crystal-clear focusing with superior accuracy. Two additional focusing methods allow for even more creativity. The new “Live View Zoom” enables up to 10A-magnification of the Live View display, and the “Live View Focus Peaking” automatically highlights sharp contours in red to provide simple focus control.
The unique quality of Leica lenses has been expanded into the 1080 pixel, full-HD video recording feature of the Leica M. Complete control over exposure and capture settings enables photographers to complement their still images with professional video recordings, with the same look and quality inherent to Leica photography.
The combination of the Leica Max 24-MP sensor and Leica’s Maestro processor allows for an extremely high image-processing speed. A low buffer time lets you take photos in rapid succession, not missing a single shot. The processor’s several independent segments permit an incoming image to be processed while a previous one is still being written on the memory card.
The new Leica M is the first to feature Live View. Images are composed from material produced by the lens, granting you complete control over depth of field, exposure, framing and focusing. The M’s large, high-resolution 3″ monitor with 920,000 pixels allows precise assessment of each potential image with regard to sharpness, exposure and colour.