Leica Club

Leica Club Welcome Pack – Digital Leica M Cameras

Hello and welcome to the Leica Club! To help you enjoy your new purchase I’ve listed some information below to get you started and answer some of the common questions I receive.

Pack Includes:

  • Leica M camera accessories – Top 12
  • 6 tips for using your Leica camera
  • Best lens for your Leica M camera
  • Leica M camera YouTube videos
  • Join a Leica community
  • Photo editing tips
  • Leica services and recalibration
  • Remote Leica support
  • Leica photowalks
  • Master your Leica

Leica M camera accessories – Top 12

After buying your Leica camera there are certain accessories you may want to get. Here are my top 11 –

1. Spare Battery – See shortage on YouTube

A must have. If you can’t find spare batteries for sale contact Leica customer services and ask to buy a battery from them as a “spare part”.

2. LCD Screen Protector

A simple plastic matte finish screen protector transforms the camera. No more annoying finger prints! For more protection you can get glass screen protectors. Check eBay UK or eBay COM.

3. Electronic Viewfinder (EVF) – See on YouTube

These are a gamechanger! When using a Leica M camera with an EVF (Visoflex) you can now focus non-rangefinder coupled lenses such as Leica R lenses and even Nikon lenses. See the lens adapters section below*.

4. Soft Release Shutter Button

An affordable way to customise your Leica camera is with a custom shutter release button. I have red buttons on some of my Leica cameras.

5. Strap (Neck Strap and/or Wrist Strap)

Your Leica camera is supplied with a neck strap. A new strap is another easy way to customise your camera. I use wrist straps for street photography and a neck strap for events. Peak Design products are a popular quick release camera strap system that work great if you use multiple cameras. If you prefer something more premium I use these leather cameras straps which offer the option of both Peak Design anchors AND your initials embossed! Very cool. (You can even get matching watch straps!)

6. Viewfinder Magnifiers/ Diopters) – See on YouTube

If you are planning to use your Leica M camera as a rangefinder camera (Ie. without EVF) then I highly recommend a viewfinder magnifier for certain lenses. For me, these are a must have if I want to accurately focus a fast 50mm, a 90mm or 135mm lens via the rangefinder. The diopter screws into the eyepiece of your Leica M camera and magnifies the view making the focus patch appear larger. There are two solutions available –

1) Magnifiers and Diopters for Leica M Cameras

Historically the only option was to buy individual Leica 1.25x or 1.4x viewer magnifiers and then additional diopter rings (for your specific prescription). These were made by Leica and can now be difficult to find (+ very expensive). All legacy items were designed for Leica M camera pre- Leica M10/M11. To use these with M10/M11 cameras you need to also buy the Leica adapter ring*.

2) Combined Magnifier / Variable Diopter for Leica M Cameras (See on YouTube)

A much easier approach is to use the combined magnifier/ variable diopter units from Light Lens Lab. I now use these as you can dial in a +3/0/-3 prescription plus the 1.4x magnification is perfect for my 50mm and longer lenses. Units are supplied with the adapter ring so will fit all M cameras ever made (film and digital). Mine stays on the camera unless I switch to a wider lens.

  • Light Lens Lab viewfinder 1.4x magnifier and variable diopter – Check Prices

7. Thumbs Up Grip Support

Do you need a thumbs up grip support for your Leica? If you use on camera flash or triggers on the hotshoe then I would avoid the thumbs up grip as it blocks the hotshoe. If you use larger heavier lenses then a grip definitely adds comfort and helps balance the camera.

8. Camera Hand Grip

Leica M cameras are not really designed to fit the hand. If you want a more secure grip and/ or use larger heavier lenses a grip adds comfort and helps balance the camera.

9. Half Case or Camera Bag

As with camera straps half cases and camera bags are a personal choice. Ona and Billingham are popular brands and in the past I used Billingham bag. After almost having my bag stolen in Lisbon I’ve now upgraded to a more discrete camera bag system. Read my best bag for Leica cameras article or if you’re pushed for time I would recommend the Wotancraft 2L bag for a single Leica M body + standard size lens or a Wotancraft 3.5L bag for multiple bodies and lenses.

*If you want the absolutely smallest camera-lens combo bag read the above mentioned article as depending on what lens you use there is an even smaller super discrete bag option for M users. (I love mine!)

10. Leica M lens adapters

The Leica M8 and Leica M9 are not ideal for adapting non-rangefinder coupled lenses as they don’t have Live View. All later M models can be used easily with Leica R lenses and other lens brands. Here are some adapters I use –

11. SD Memory Cards

My preferred memory card brand is SanDisk. It’s all I buy. To backup my files I use SanDisk portable SSD hard drives. Super small and recommended.

12. Code your own lenses

As you may know modern Leica lenses are 6-bit coded so your camera automatically selects the correct lens profile and records accurate EXIF data. This is great but what if you have older uncoded Leica lenses or third party lenses (also uncoded). Thanks to a simple tool from Akaralabs you can now code all your Leica M mount lenses at home. Watch on YouTube

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Tips for using your Leica M camera (x6)

In addition to carrying a spare battery (with the Leica M10 cameras especially), here are some tips you might find useful –

  1. To see light better I set the camera to B&W JPEG mode giving a B&W preview (even if capturing DNG only colour files)
  2. Live View is great if you want to compose a lens wider than 28mm and don’t have an EVF/ Visoflex (and for shooting from the hip)
  3. Live View let’s you accurately focus at less than 0.7m without an EVF/ Visoflex (and/ or let’s you check your rangefinder focus accuracy)
  4. Leica M cameras are particularly great paired with small 28mm and 35mm lenses (less optimised for fast 50mm, 90mm and 135mm)
  5. Tape up your camera red dot logo for a more stealthy street photography setup
  6. Use your camera to digitise your film negatives. You’ll need an adapter ring + SLR macro lens + tubes + Valoi Easy35 scanner

Best Lens for your Leica M camera?

Best is different for everyone depending on your needs. Check the big list of Leica M mount lens reviews (written reviews and YouTube). You can enjoy any rangefinder coupled lens and focus via the built in Leica M viewfinder/ rangefinder. If your Leica M camera has Live View you can also use non-rangefinder lenses such as Leica R lenses or Nikon F lenses (mounted via an adapter). You will need to focus these lenses via Live View/ an EVF. For rangefinder coupled lenses here is a very simplified summary –

  • Premium Leica M mount lenses – from Leica M, Voigtlander, Zeiss, Light Lens Lab
  • Cheaper Leica M mount lenses – from Thypoch, TTArtisan, 7Artisans, Funleader
  • Premium vintage screw mount lenses (“LTM, L39”) via LTM-M adapter – from Leica
  • Cheaper vintage screw mount lenses via LTM-M adapter – from Canon, Nikon, Voigtlander
  • Cheapest vintage screw mount lenses via LTM-M adapter – Soviet rangefinder lenses: Jupiter and Industar

If you are still not sure what lens to buy make use of my Leica support service.

Leica M camera YouTube videos

If you want to see Leica YouTube reviews from other photographers see the Leica YouTubers directory.

Watch my Leica M camera YouTube playlist here –

Join a Leica Community

If you are new to Leica you might want to join a friendly Leica community to ask questions and meet fellow Leica users. Find Leica groups on Facebook or join us on Patreon where we have over 900 members around the world.

Photo Editing Tips

If you don’t enjoy editing I recommend setting your camera to JPEG mode. JPEG images can be posted and shared without any editing. To capture more detail set the camera to DNG. To use DNG files you will first need to process the files via software such as Adobe Lightroom. Lightroom users can download MrLeica LR Presets (colour and B&W) for your specific camera. That’s how I edit all my images.

Lightroom Presets – GAME CHANGING!

Leica Services and Recalibration

The most likely problem to occur with your Leica M camera is the rangefinder patch will be knocked out of calibration (vertically, horizontally or both). You can adjust this yourself with the correct tool or send it to a Leica service centre near you. If you are planning to send your camera back to Leica Wetzlar this video shares more information.

Remote Leica Support

Struggling with your new Leica camera? Use my Leica support service to quickly resolve the issue. See the Zoom testimonials section.

Leica Photowalks

Join a small group of fellow Leica photographers for a photowalk workshop with MrLeica.Com.

Master your Leica

To get the most from your Leica camera book a 1:1 workshop with a Leica expert. Teaching Leica workshops worldwide since 2014. View workshop testimonials.

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