Leica R-E

I have added a Leica R-E 35mm SLR camera to my film camera collection. Leicas have always been so costly that owning one has been beyond my reach. But in recent years prices of used Leica R equipment has fallen significantly. I was able to acquire a used R-E and a 50mm Summicron-R for less than £450. The M series cameras are way more expensive.

The R-E is a cut down version of the R5. It has aperture priority plus manual exposure, and has shutter speeds upto 1/2000 sec. Spot metering is available in both modes, plus average metering is available in aperture priority mode. The camera is relatively small in size.

The 50mm summicron-r is built beautifully. The focusing is silky smooth. I have yet to develop the first film I shot with it, so can't comment on image quality yet. But holding the lens is a pleasure and you can see straight away that these lenses are built to a very high level of standard.

My first impressions are that the Leica R-E is quite well built - though not as good as the Nikon F2 or F3, both of which feel sturdier. The Summicron-R is, however, definitely better built that the 50mm Nikkors.

Here are some pictures of my Leica:

www.flickr.com dibyendumajumdar's Leica R-E photoset