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Leica’s beautifully-designed picture-making devices come with rich history and even richer price tags that give them a place on our bucket list of the best film cameras to own in a lifetime. Riding on the coattails of the digital M11’s highly successful release earlier this year, the black rangefinder brand today announced a reissue of its iconic M6 rangefinder film camera, available beginning 3 November 2022.
Analog oglers with a sharp eye will undoubtedly notice the iconic red dot logo reads Leitz, not Leica. When the original 1984 model of the M6 hit camera shops the brand went by Leitz Camera, after its 1869 founder Ernst Leitz, only making the change to the more recognizanble moniker in 1986 in an effort to lean into the success of the brand's own Leica series cameras.
Though introduced in 1984, Leica kept the 35mm M6 model in production through 2002 between its four iterations; the M6, M6J, M6 0.85, and M6 TTL. The 2022 refresh remains largely true to previous builds, with the exception of a redesigned top cover made from solid brass coated with an abrasion-resistant black lacquer. The M6’s characteristic slanted film rewind crank is kept intact, offering an idiosyncratic analog experience roll after roll. Inside, an optimized Leica M rangefinder offers increased functionality for those lucky enough to gaze through its prisms.
We might not be emptying our savings account to grab one for ourselves, but seeing a major player in the film camera world release a “new” camera—just days after Cinestill released a new 400 ISO film no less—gives our analog hearts some peace about the future in a world of inflated film prices and rising film developing costs. The renewal of the Leica M6 will be available beginning November 3rd from Leica and Leica boutiques worldwide–if you have the means, we highly recommend picking one up.
PS - Attn analog lovers, our second annual Field Mag Film Photo Contest is now live! Enter to win from our prize purse of $10,000 in cash & cameras!
Published 10-20-2022
