Leica R-E

Variants & identification

1. Lens cams. The R-E reads aperture from the third, stepped cam, the R-cam, and nothing else. It takes and meters at full aperture with 3-cam lenses, R-only lenses and ROM lenses, which keep the R-cam; it predates the ROM contacts and does not read them. 1-cam and 2-cam Leicaflex lenses have no R-cam, and the R-E manual says: "To avoid damaging the camera body of your LEICA R-E, do not attempt to use it with lenses and accessories for LEICAFLEX models without a control cam", adding that such lenses can be fitted with the cam at any time and then still work on every Leicaflex. English Wikipedia's article on the bayonet says unconverted lenses can be used on R bodies with stop-down metering. Leica's R9 instructions say the cam must be fitted before use on any R camera from the R3; take the manual's warning, and check that a lens carries the R-cam before mounting it.
2. All three modes work with any Leica R lens and with accessories such as the Focusing Bellows-R. Lenses without an automatic diaphragm (the 28mm PC-Super-Angulon-R, 35mm PA-Curtagon-R and the 400mm and longer Telyts) and the bellows meter at working aperture. M lenses that fit the Visoflex mount through adapter 14167, also with stop-down metering (R-E manual).
3. The Minolta link is the chassis. Camera-wiki describes the R4 family as a joint venture based on Leitz's 1972 co-operation agreement with Minolta, whose own version appeared in 1977 as the XD series; English Wikipedia says the R4 was based on the Minolta XD-7 (XD in Japan, XD-11 in the USA) with Leica's own metering, mirror box and body design. Camera-wiki and Wikipedia say the same body and chassis carried every R model to the R7, and Apotelyt that the R5 uses the R4's body and that the R-E is largely identical to the R5. None of these sources describes Minolta parts in the R-E itself.
4. No launch list price from a period source is recorded here. AAA Camera Exchange of New York advertised the R-E at US$949.69 in Popular Photography, November 1993 (p. 145), against US$1,249.69 for the R5 and US$1,899.69 for the R7 in the same list: a mail-order dealer price, not a list price.
5. The R-E was advertised in Scientific American's December 1991 issue under the line "NEW MADE BY LEICA": "a new SLR camera with universal aperture priority mode designed for uncomplicated photography", shown with the new Vario-Elmar-R 28–70mm zoom, from Leica Camera GmbH, Solms.
6. Apotelyt says that on today's used market the R-E's missing modes no longer make much difference to its price against the R5.
7. Apotelyt reports that Leica Customer Care no longer services R-system cameras and that the company suggests Paepke-Fototechnik in Düsseldorf for R5 and R-E repairs.

• Black (order no. 10055): The standard camera and the only regular version: an R5 body and shutter with the program and shutter-priority modes taken out, keeping TTL flash metering (Leica Wiki; camera-wiki; Puts). Leitz Photographica Auction 45, lot 212, catalogued no. 1797014, made 1991, in near-mint condition with its box and a Summicron-R 2/50mm, and sold it for €1,080 including buyer's premium against an €800–1,000 estimate.
• Leica Olympia Set, Olympische Spiele '92 (order no. 10810): A boxed set for the 1992 Games, with German wording throughout. The Leica Wiki says the set included a Leica Mini; the set's own box lists only the R-E, the zoom and the bag, and Leitz Photographica Auction 17, lot 201, sold an R-E set (no. 1791602, special number I66) together with a separate "Leica Mini Olympia Set 18015" in its own box. The Leica Wiki ties the edition to block 1791001–1793000, but four of the auctioned sets, and the camera sold alone in Auction 11, carry numbers from 1797001–1799000. Three more lots (Auction 9, lots 236 and 237; Auction 10, lot 137) are catalogued with eight-digit numbers, 17921490, 17976020 and 17886320, which look like seven-digit serials with a digit added and are not counted here. The photographs of the C 010 set (Auction 40, lot 205, no. 1791971) show no plaque on the body, so its absence does not rule a set out. Nine sets have been through Leitz Photographica Auction; the lowest made €456 (Auction 28, lot 175, condition B+) and the highest €1,680 (Auction 9, lot 236, and Auction 40, lot 205), all prices including buyer's premium. A tenth lot, Auction 11 no. 256, is catalogued as "R-E Olympia 10550", a camera with special number L34 alone in its box with papers, which made €660; the number does not match the set's 10810 and is not explained.

Specifications

Format

24×36mm on 35mm film

Finder

fixed pentaprism, built-in dioptre correction from +2 to −2 and an eyepiece shutter; universal screen (split image, microprism ring, matte field) standard, with four optional screens (R-E manual) · 0.8× magnification · 92% coverage

Shutter

electronically controlled vertical-travel metal-blade focal plane · 15s–1/2000 stepless in aperture priority; 1/2–1/2000 in full steps when set by hand; B; X (1/100 set mechanically, released electronically) and an orange 100 (1/100 set and released mechanically, for use when the batteries are exhausted) (R-E manual) · flash sync 1/100 (X); hot shoe with control contacts and a PC socket by the prism. With SCA 300 or 500 flash units and the SCA 351 or 551 adapter the flash is metered through the lens, and the camera switches itself to X when the flash is ready · self-timer

Film advance

single-stroke lever, 130° throw; contacts and coupling in the base for the Motor-Winder R and Motor-Drive R

Back

hinged, with a cartridge window; replaceable by the DB-2 Leica R data back, which needs no cable

Meter

Silicon photodiode in the base of the mirror box, read through the semi-transparent main mirror and a Fresnel reflector. Three modes on one selector: A (aperture priority, centre- weighted integral), a (aperture priority, selective 7mm circle, with a memory hold on the release for about 30 seconds) and m (manual, selective). Range EV 3–20 selective and EV 1–20 integral at ISO 100 with an f/1.4 lens; ISO 12–3200; ±2 EV override in third stops. TTL flash metering from a second photodiode beside the first. Two SR44-type silver-oxide cells or one lithium cell; there is no on/off switch, the meter wakes on the release, the mode-selector button or the battery test (R-E manual).

Motor drive

Leica Winder R4, Leica Motor Drive R4, Leica Motor-Winder R, Leica Motor-Drive R — The Motor-Winder R (14208) gives 2 frames a second; the Motor-Drive R (14310) single frames, 2 or 4 a second. Hand-grip 14308 and the RC Leica R remote control (14277) fit either (R-E manual). Camera-wiki says any winder or motor drive of the R4–R7 series fits any body of the series. The hand-grip changed from a mechanical to an electrical connection, grips and drives of the two kinds are not cross-compatible, and the R7's deeper base needs its own taller grip.

Weight

625 g

Dimensions

138.5 × 89.1 × 63.5 (width × height × total depth, without lens; R-E manual, which gives 32.2mm for the body alone). Apotelyt prints 138.5 × 88.1 × 62.2 mm

Country

Germany: final assembly in Solms, with major sub-assemblies from Leica's factory in Portugal (camera-wiki; English Wikipedia)

Accessories

Motor-Winder R (14208) and Motor-Drive R (14310), hand-grip 14308 · RC Leica R electronic remote control (14277) · DB-2 Leica R data back (14216) · Focusing screens 14303–14307 · Eyecup 14215 and correction lenses from 0.5 to 3 dioptres · Ever-ready cases 14510 and 14515 · SCA 351 and SCA 551 flash adapters for TTL flash · Adapter 14167 for Visoflex-type M lenses

0.8× at 0 dioptres with a 50mm lens, and a 23 × 34.6mm image, 92% of the frame (R-E manual). The optional screens are plain ground glass (14304), microprism (14305), ground glass with grid and TV marks (14306) and clear glass with cross-lines (14307); the universal screen is 14303. The outer edge of the microprism ring marks the 7mm selective metering field. Shutter speed scale on the right, mode and override symbols lower left, with the set aperture and speed shown below the image (R-E manual).

Figures we worked out rather than found: No R body was made in Canada: camera-wiki places R3–R7 manufacture at Wetzlar (the first R3s), Vila Nova de Famalicão in Portugal and Solms, and English Wikipedia puts final assembly of the R-E and every later R body in Solms · Gandy's blocks naming the R-E hold 16,000 serial numbers in all, shared with the R5, R6 and R6.2 · The Leica Wiki's row estimates sum to 8,333 with the R-E/R6.2 blocks and 6,083 without them

What reviewers say

• Apotelyt (blog) — Treats the R-E as an economy R5, largely identical but without shutter priority and program and sold for less, and notes that the missing modes now make little difference to its used price. single source, unconfirmed

History

This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.

Photographs

Live listings

• Leica RE black — $545.00 · Classic Connection

Listings updated 2026-11-09. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.