Glass Bodies a variant-level encyclopedia of vintage lenses and cameras by iwillpat

Leica R3

Leica · Leica R mount · 24×36mm on 35mm film · 1976

Also known as: Leica R3 · Leitz R3 · Leitz Leica R3 · Leica R3 Electronic · Electronic Leica R3 · Leica R3 MOT · Leica R3MOT · Leica R3 MOT Electronic · Leica R3 Safari · Leica R3 Olive · R3 Electronic · R3 MOT Electronic · R3 Gold O.Barnack · R3 Gold O. Barnack · R3 Gold Oskar Barnack · ライカ R3 · ライカR3

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
R3 Electronic, Wetzlar-built first series Leica R 1976–1977 1446001–1446100, chrome, 100 (LW, 18 Nov 1976)
1449001–1450500, black, 1,500 (LW, 18 Nov 1976)
1450501–1450900, chrome, 400 (LW, 18 Nov 1976; the Leica Wiki dates the block 1977) 		2,000 serial numbers, 1,500 black and 500 chrome, the blocks Leica's serial data marks LW for Leica Wetzlar (CameraQuest); Apotelyt and Erwin Puts give the same 2,000. Numbers assigned, not cameras counted.
R3 Electronic, Portugal-built (10031 chrome, 10032 black) Leica R 1976–1979 1446101–1447100, chrome (LP, 18 Nov 1976)
1447101–1449000, black (LP, 18 Nov 1976)
1450901–1468000, black (LP, 18 Nov 1976)
1470001–1477000, black (LP, 30 Sep 1977; printed as 10,000 numbers, and the Leica Wiki ends the block at 1479000)
1479001–1480000, chrome (LP, 1 Dec 1977)
1485001–1491000, black (LP, 3 Mar 1978)
1491001–1492250, chrome (3 Mar 1978; printed reversed as 1492250–1491001)
1523751–1523850, black (18 Jul 1979)
1524851–1525350, chrome (19 Jan 1979) 		About 37,850 numbers on Leica's serial data as CameraQuest prints it, or 40,850 counting the 1470001–1477000 block at the 10,000 printed beside it; the Leica Wiki labels every one of these blocks LP, Leica Portugal, one of them "ELW+LP"
R3 MOT Electronic (10033) Leica R 1978–1979 1492251–1502000 (3 Mar 1978)
1508001–1510000 (9 Jan 1979)
1510001–1523750 (19 Jan 1979) 		25,500 numbers in three blocks (CameraQuest; the Leica Wiki agrees, joining the last two)
R3 Safari (olive green; 10034 and 11876) Leica R 1977–1978 1468001–1470000 (LP green, 30 Sep 1977; the Leica Wiki starts the olive block at 1468101)
1482001–1485000 (LP green, 3 Mar 1978) 		5,000 on Leica's serial data, Puts ("5000 units in 1977 – 1978") and Kamerastore; the Leica Wiki's carve-out of 1468001–1468100 for M4-2s would leave 4,900
R3 Gold, Oskar Barnack centenary (10050) Leica R 1979–1980 1523851–1524850 (18 Jul 1979) 1,000 (CameraQuest's block; Puts; Apotelyt)
R3 MOT Electronic 'LHSA' (1978) Leica R 1978–1978 — 100 cameras (Leitz Auction's description; no factory figure is published)
  1. Prices, all secondary-market. Leitz Auction results above include buyer's premium. Kamerastore gives a certified-condition reference price of €850 for a Safari body, a dealer figure. Nathan Jones estimates $150–300 for a body and $500–800 with a standard lens; Apotelyt's table gives $125–250 for a body.
  2. The order numbers (10031 chrome, 10032 black, 10033 MOT, 10034 and 11876 Safari, 10050 gold) are the Leica Wiki's, which Apotelyt repeats.
  3. Leica no longer repairs the R3; Apotelyt reports that Leica Customer Care refers owners to Paepke-Fototechnik in Düsseldorf.
  4. No R3 was made in Canada. Leica's serial data assigns the R3 blocks to Wetzlar (LW) or Portugal (LP), several with no factory mark, and none to Ernst Leitz Canada at Midland, which was then making the M4-2. A Canadian provenance, like the Ingenium museum's no. 1462354, used by a Canadian photojournalist, is ownership.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • R3 ELECTRONIC on the front plate right of the mount, the red Leitz badge on the left, LEICA on the prism (Commons photographs; Ingenium's markings)
  • Shutter-speed dial marked AUTOMATIC, with X and B; DIN/ASA dial around the rewind with the ±2 correction
  • Film-cartridge window in the back; on/off switch beside the eyepiece, which also locks the release
  • X and M flash sockets beside the mount at the right
  • MOT: designation on the body, base coupling and no self-timer
  • Same body shape as the Minolta XE: the Commons comparison of an XE-1 and an R3 shows the shared outline

R3 Electronic, Wetzlar-built first series:

  • Serial number inside one of the three LW blocks: the serial is the only reliable test, because the sources describe no outside marking that separates a Wetzlar body from a Portuguese one
  • Leitz Auction's pre-series no. 1446033 has an unusual black front plate on a chrome body

R3 Electronic, Portugal-built (10031 chrome, 10032 black):

  • PORTUGAL on the base (Ingenium no. 1462354)
  • Self-timer lever on the front, which the MOT lacks
  • Black or clear anodised (chrome) top: the Leica Wiki's Schwz and Hell

R3 MOT Electronic (10033):

  • R3 MOT designation and coupling contacts for the Motor-Winder R3 on the base plate (Apotelyt)
  • No self-timer lever on the front (Apotelyt; the R3 & R3 MOT handbook)
  • In the finder, symbols above the shutter-speed scale show whether selective or integrated metering is set; on the plain R3 the only sign is the needle dropping when the release is pressed in selective mode (the R3 & R3 MOT handbook)

R3 Safari (olive green; 10034 and 11876):

  • Olive green finish on the body, prism and fittings, with olive covering; R3 ELECTRONIC on the front plate as on the standard camera (Commons photograph by Rama)
  • Serial in one of the two olive blocks
  • Leitz Auction's no. 1468294 carries an engraving 'E 288' on the rear

R3 Gold, Oskar Barnack centenary (10050):

  • Gold-plated top with Barnack's signature and the dates 1879–1979 engraved (Apotelyt)
  • A special number of the form 100-xxx: Leitz Auction's no. 1524588 is 100-726
  • Reptile-skin covering: lizard and crocodile in Puts
  • Sold with a gold-plated Summilux-R 1.4/50mm

R3 MOT Electronic 'LHSA' (1978):

  • '1968 LHSA 1978' engraved on the prism housing

Serial-range notes

1446001–1525350
The whole run, Puts's figures; the Leica Wiki gives the same span. Inside it, Leica's serial data as CameraQuest publishes it leaves gaps at 1477001–1479000, 1480001–1482000 and 1502001–1508000, and the Leica Wiki fills the first with plain R3s.
1468001–1468100
Contested. CameraQuest prints the whole 1468001–1470000 block as Safari. The Leica Wiki carves out the first hundred as M4-2s, which the Leica M4-2 page here follows and Leitz Auction's M4-2 no. 1468059 supports, but its own footnote names no. 1468063 an olive R3. The hundred numbers look mixed rather than reserved.
1468101–1470000
The Leica Wiki's "R3 Olive LP" block, labelled 2,000 though it holds 1,900 numbers; its footnote records no. 1469693 as a Leica MD-2, an M-bayonet body with no finder, inside the olive block.
1470001–1477000
Printed by CameraQuest as 10,000 numbers, though the range holds 7,000. The Leica Wiki ends the block at 1479000, which holds 9,000, and also labels it 10,000.

Specifications

Format
24×36mm on 35mm film
Finder
Fixed eye-level pentaprism; horizontal split-image centre in a microprism ring that also marks the selective metering zone, fine microprism field outside it; no interchangeable screens · 0.8× magnification
Shutter
CLS (Copal-Leitz-Shutter): vertical-travel metal-blade focal plane with six blades, electronically timed · 4s–1/1000 stepless on automatic; 4s–1/1000 in whole stops on manual; X (1/90) and B mechanical, usable without batteries · flash sync X at 1/90 through the hot shoe or a PC socket at the lens mount; a separate M socket for bulbs · self-timer
Film advance
single-stroke lever, about 130° (Color Foto 2/1977); multiple-exposure lever at its pivot; film-transport indicator above the counter
Back
hinged, with a window showing the cartridge in use
Meter
Through the lens with three CdS cells. Selective reading from one cell in the base, fed through the semi-transparent main mirror and a secondary mirror as on the Leicaflex SL, over the 7mm microprism zone, with a memory lock on the first pressure point of the release; integrated, centre-weighted reading adds two cells on the prism. Both work on automatic and manual. ASA 12–3200, ±2 EV correction, two 1.5V silver-oxide cells (MS76) in the base (Color Foto 2/1977; Foto Magazin 9/1976; camera-wiki).
Motor drive
Motor-Winder R3 — The R3 MOT only; the plain R3 has no coupling, and Borell regretted at launch that there was no winder at all. Two frames per second (Apotelyt); 265 g without batteries (the R3 & R3 MOT handbook). camera-wiki says the winder was made by Eumig.
Weight
780 g
Dimensions
148 × 96.5 × 64.6 (the R3 & R3 MOT handbook; Apotelyt); Color Foto measured 148 × 96 × 64.8 mm
Country
Germany (Wetzlar: the first 2,000) and Portugal (Leitz Portugal, Vila Nova de Famalicão: the rest)
Original price
Just under DM 2,000 with a lens: "knapp DM 2.000,– mit einem der besten Objektive der Welt" (Alexander Borell, Color Foto 11/1976). A journalist's round figure, not a Leitz list price; he does not name the lens, though Leitz's advertisement in the same issue shows the camera with the Summicron-R 50mm f/2. No US list price has been found.
Accessories
Motor-Winder R3 (R3 MOT only) · Remote control for the winder (the R3 & R3 MOT handbook) · Adapter 14167 for Visoflex-usable M lenses, metering at working aperture (the R3 & R3 MOT handbook) · 90° angle finder attachment

Coverage is given three ways: about 97% of a framed slide (Color Foto 2/1977, measured on a 35 × 23mm mount), 94% (Apotelyt) and 92% (Nathan Jones, who also gives the 0.8× magnification). The finder shows the set aperture, an A or the manually set speed, and a needle against a 4s–1/1000 scale on the right; the needle is not illuminated, and Borell missed the SL2's illumination in it. An eyepiece blind is built in for tripod work with integrated metering.

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 · The R3 total of 69,350 numbers is this page's sum of the blocks in Leica's serial data as CameraQuest prints them (37,850 R3, 25,500 MOT, 5,000 Safari, 1,000 Gold), with 1470001–1477000 counted at 7,000 · The 2,000 Wetzlar numbers are the sum of the three LW blocks (100 + 1,500 + 400)

Where sources disagree

Production
  • 69,350 numbers, the sum of the blocks Leica's serial data prints (CameraQuest), counting 1470001–1477000 at its real 7,000
  • 72,350 on the same list counting that block at the 10,000 printed beside it
  • 71,350 assigned numbers (the Leica Wiki's total)
  • 'Some 65000 - 70000 were allocated and presumably manufactured' (Puts)
  • About 70,000 (Apotelyt)

Better supported: About 69,000–72,000 numbers allotted, MOT, Safari and Gold included

Every figure counts serial numbers, not cameras, and the Leica Wiki's M4-2 carve-out takes up to 100 more out of the R3's total.

Where the first cameras were made
  • The first 2,000, 1,500 black and 500 chrome, at Wetzlar and the rest at Leitz Portugal (Leica's serial data via CameraQuest; Apotelyt; Puts)
  • Parts made at Leitz Portugal and the camera assembled at 'the Leitz works' (Color Foto 2/1977, on Wetzlar-block no. 1449721)

Better supported: Wetzlar for the LW blocks, Portugal for the rest

The two can both be true: the Wetzlar cameras may have used Portuguese parts. Color Foto did not say where every R3 was assembled.

Mot (factory)
  • Germany (camera-wiki: 'Like the first batch of 2,000 cameras, the R3 MOT was made in Germany')
  • Portugal (the Leica Wiki labels the MOT blocks LP)
  • Unstated (Leica's serial data as CameraQuest prints it marks the MOT blocks with no factory)
Safari (production)
  • 5,000 (Leica's serial data via CameraQuest; Puts; Kamerastore)
  • 4,900 if the Leica Wiki's M4-2 carve-out of 1468001–1468100 stands

Better supported: 5,000 numbers allotted

Last
  • 1979 (Puts, 'in the catalogues for three years (1976 - 1979)'; the Leica Wiki; camera-wiki)
  • 1980 (Apotelyt, 'produced and sold from 1976 to 1980'; Puts dates the Gold edition 1979–1980)

Better supported: 1979 for the production camera

Type (design)
  • A Leitz design: Puts says the CLS and the mirror movement were Leitz designs; Color Foto 2/1977 says it goes back to a basic development by Leitz Wetzlar, with a control system patented for Leitz; English Wikipedia calls it a Leica-developed shutter
  • Designed by Leitz in cooperation with Copal and made by Copal (Apotelyt)

Puts also lists the shutter mechanism among the parts from outside sources, which fits a Leitz design built by Copal. English Wikipedia says the CLS was produced for Leica and Minolta only.

Meter (modes on manual)
  • Selective and integrated both work on automatic and on manual (Color Foto 2/1977; camera-wiki; the R3 & R3 MOT handbook; Nathan Jones)
  • Manual metering in spot mode only (Apotelyt)

Better supported: Both methods on automatic and manual

Mounting 1-cam and 2-cam Leicaflex lenses
  • They mount and meter stopped down (English Wikipedia's Leica R bayonet table; Alex Luyckx, who metered a 2-cam lens by stopping down by hand)
  • No aperture-priority automatic with them, because they do not tell the body the set aperture (Nathan Jones)
  • Leitz must fit a small cam for all metering modes, stop-down metering included, to work (Color Foto 2/1977); the third cam is needed 'to retain the full automatic metering facilities' (the R3 & R3 MOT handbook)
  • They must be fitted with the R control cam before use on any Leica R camera from the R3 (Leica R9 instructions)

Better supported: Leica's instructions: have the R-cam fitted first

First R-only lenses
  • From 1978 (Puts: lenses with only one cam, 'specifically for the R3 and subsequent models')
  • 1988 (English Wikipedia's Leica R bayonet table)

What reviewers say

History

The R3 is where the Leica R begins. After the Leicaflex, SL and SL2, all mechanical and all made at Wetzlar, Leitz showed the “Electronic-LEICA R3” at photokina 1976: its first SLR with automatic exposure and an electronically timed shutter, and the first reflex body developed in the co-operation with Minolta that had already produced the CL. It is aperture-priority automatic with manual override, and its distinction, then and now, is the meter: a selective reading from a cell in the base, fed through the mirror as on the Leicaflex SL, or an integrated, centre-weighted reading that adds two cells on the prism. You can switch between them on automatic or manual, and the selective reading can be held on the release’s first pressure point.

The Minolta relationship is close, and the sources say exactly how close. English Wikipedia says the R3 was developed with Minolta “together with the Minolta XE bodies” and closely based on the XE, and the Ingenium museum’s catalogue says its design was based on the “Minolta XE 1/7”. The XE was sold as the XE-1 in Europe and the XE-7 in the United States, and Nathan Jones, who has used both, says the two share a chassis and dimensions but meter differently. Erwin Puts says the R3 looks like an adapted XE-7. In his account the body chassis, the shutter mechanism and the prism came from outside, while the finder screen, the mirror mechanism and the metering were Leitz’s. He calls Leitz’s claim that 75 per cent of the parts were of Wetzlar origin “a bit misleading”. The R4 that replaced the R3 in 1980 moved to the Minolta XD-7, with Leica’s own metering, mirror box and body (English Wikipedia). The shutter itself is the CLS, the Copal-Leitz-Shutter: Puts and Color Foto credit the design to Leitz, and Apotelyt says it was designed with Copal and made by Copal.

The first 2,000 cameras, 1,500 black and 500 chrome, were built in Wetzlar, in three blocks that Stephen Gandy’s list of Leica’s factory serial data, published on CameraQuest, marks LW. Everything else came from Leitz Portugal at Vila Nova de Famalicão, and Portuguese cameras say PORTUGAL on the base. The Wetzlar numbers are not simply the first 2,000, though: two Portugal blocks dated the same day sit between them. The only reliable way to identify a Wetzlar R3 is its serial number. No R body was made in Canada. The R3 MOT of 1978 took a base coupling for the Motor-Winder R3 and lost the self-timer. Its finder shows which metering method is set; on the plain R3 the only sign is the needle dropping when the release is pressed in selective mode. There are two editions. The olive Safari of 1977–78 is 5,000 numbers on Leica’s list, but the first hundred of its first block are disputed with the M4-2. The 1979 Gold marked Oskar Barnack’s centenary in 1,000 gold-plated, reptile-covered cameras with a gold Summilux-R. A hundred R3 MOTs were engraved for the Leica Historical Society of America’s tenth anniversary.

On lenses, the R3 introduced the third, stepped cam, the R-cam, which tells the body the maximum aperture as well as the set one. Three-cam lenses meter at full aperture. R-only lenses fit the R3, which is the first body they fit, and so do ROM lenses, whose contacts do nothing on it. On 1-cam and 2-cam Leicaflex lenses, which have no R-cam, the sources disagree. English Wikipedia’s article on the R bayonet says they mount and meter stopped down, and Alex Luyckx metered a 2-cam lens that way. Leitz’s own handbook says the full automatic functions return only once a third cam is fitted, Color Foto’s test said the cam was needed before any metering mode, stop-down metering included, would work, and Leica’s R9 instructions say Leicaflex lenses without the R-cam must have it fitted before use on any R camera from the R3 on. Leica’s instructions are the safer guide. Owners paid part of the cost of the conversion, which drew a complaint in a reader’s letter that Borell quoted in his launch commentary, and a defence from him. Check which cams a lens has before counting it as part of an R3 outfit.

When buying, the electronics are the question. Puts says the first batches made in Portugal had trouble with wiring harnesses of soldered wire, and the camera became “a very reliable instrument” once Leitz moved to flexible circuits. He gives no serial for the change. Leica no longer services the R3. The foam light seals between body and back age, Apotelyt warns. Without batteries the camera still fires at X (1/90) and B, with no meter. Nathan Jones found his reading a stop dim on alkaline cells and set a permanent correction. Make sure the self-timer, or its absence, matches the badge. Check a Safari, Gold or LHSA camera’s number against its block: the special editions sell for a premium, though at Leitz Auction the Safari and LHSA cameras sold below their estimates and a Gold set went unsold.

Expand Collapse

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

Leica R3
Leica R3 Electronic, black, with a Vario-Elmar-R 35–70mm — Rama, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0 fr)
Leica R3
Leica R3 Safari in olive green — Rama, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0 fr)
Leica R3
Minolta XE-1 above a Leica R3 Electronic: the shared body — Pancolar, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

More sample photos elsewhere

These photographers keep all rights to their work — enjoy it at the source.

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $200 across 5 fixed-price listings on 2026-11-10 (middle half $200–$300). Tracked since 2026-11-09, 2 days: unchanged from $200.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-11-10$200$200–$3005
2026-11-09$200$200–$3005

Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.

Buying from Yahoo! Auctions outside Japan. It is a domestic marketplace: sellers ship within Japan, and most will not register an overseas buyer. A proxy service bids on your behalf, receives the item and forwards it, for a fee and a wait. Buyee, Jauce and ZenMarket each accept a Yahoo auction number directly. Listed alphabetically for information — none is recommended over another, and none of these is an affiliate link.

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

Related: Leicaflex SL2 · Leica R4

Lenses for this body: Angénieux Zoom 45-90mm f/2.8 · APO-Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8 · APO-Macro-Elmarit-R 100mm f/2.8 · APO-Summicron-R 180mm f/2 · APO-Summicron-R 90mm f/2 ASPH. · APO-Telyt-R 180mm f/3.4 · APO-Telyt-R 280mm f/2.8 · APO-Telyt-R 280mm f/4 · APO-Telyt-R 400mm f/2.8 · APO-Telyt-R Module System 280-800mm · Elmar-R 180mm f/4 · Elmarit-R 135mm f/2.8 (I) · Elmarit-R 135mm f/2.8 (II) · Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8 (I) · Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8 (II) · Elmarit-R 19mm f/2.8 (I) · Elmarit-R 19mm f/2.8 (II) · Elmarit-R 24mm f/2.8 · Elmarit-R 28mm f/2.8 (I) · Elmarit-R 28mm f/2.8 (II) · Elmarit-R 35mm f/2.8 (I) · Elmarit-R 35mm f/2.8 (II) · Elmarit-R 35mm f/2.8 (III) · Elmarit-R 90mm f/2.8 (I) · Elmarit-R 90mm f/2.8 (II) · Fisheye-Elmarit-R 16mm f/2.8 · Macro-Elmar-R 100mm f/4 · Macro-Elmarit-R 60mm f/2.8 · MR-Telyt-R 500mm f/8 · PA-Curtagon-R 35mm f/4 · PC-Super-Angulon-R 28mm f/2.8 · Summicron-R 35mm f/2 (I) · Summicron-R 35mm f/2 (II) · Summicron-R 50mm f/2 (I) · Summicron-R 50mm f/2 (II) · Summicron-R 90mm f/2 · Summilux-R 35mm f/1.4 · Summilux-R 50mm f/1.4 (I) · Summilux-R 50mm f/1.4 (II, E60) · Summilux-R 80mm f/1.4 · Super-Angulon-R 21mm f/4 · Super-Elmar-R 15mm f/3.5 · Super-Elmarit-R 15mm f/2.8 ASPH. · Telyt-R 250mm f/4 (I) · Telyt-R 250mm f/4 (II) · Telyt-R 350mm f/4.8 · Telyt-R 400mm f/6.8 · Telyt-R 560mm f/6.8 · Telyt-S 800mm f/6.3 · Vario-APO-Elmarit-R 70-180mm f/2.8 · Vario-Elmar-R 105-280mm f/4.2 · Vario-Elmar-R 21-35mm f/3.5-4 ASPH. · Vario-Elmar-R 28-70mm f/3.5-4.5 · Vario-Elmar-R 35-70mm f/3.5 · Vario-Elmar-R 35-70mm f/4 · Vario-Elmar-R 70-210mm f/4 · Vario-Elmar-R 75-200mm f/4.5 · Vario-Elmar-R 80-200mm f/4 · Vario-Elmar-R 80-200mm f/4.5 · Vario-Elmarit-R 28-90mm f/2.8-4.5 ASPH. · Vario-Elmarit-R 35-70mm f/2.8 ASPH.

Sources (22)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this camera, know a serial number I'm missing, or can see where I have it wrong, tell me — corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.