Leica R6.2
Leica · Leica R mount · 24×36mm on 35mm film · 1992
Also known as: Leica R6.2 · Leica R6-2 · Leica R 6.2 · Leica R62 · ライカ R6.2
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leica R6.2 black (10074) | Leica R | 1991–2001 | 1900001–1903500 and 1907501–1908500, shared with the R-E (Gandy) 1912001–1914000 (17 Dec 1991) to 2283626–2284125 (21 Aug 1996), own blocks (Gandy) 2782011–2782020 (2001, Leica Wiki from a second serial list) | About 11,900 (apotelyt). Not separately counted by the Leica Wiki or Gandy; Gandy's black-only R6.2 blocks hold 9,549 numbers, before the shares of the mixed R-E blocks. |
| Leica R6.2 chrome (10073) | Leica R | 1992–2001 | 1923001–1924000 (4 Aug 1992) to 2178001–2179000 (25 Sep 1995), seven blocks (Gandy) 2429001–2429500 (1997) to 2782001–2782010 (2001), seven small batches (Leica Wiki, from a second list) | About 9,100 (apotelyt). Gandy's chrome blocks hold 6,498 numbers and the later chrome batches in the Leica Wiki's second list about 2,600 more. |
| Leica R6.2 gold "Singapur 30 Jahr" (1965–1995) | Leica R | 1995–1995 | Within 2007001–2008000, by the Leica Wiki's placement; low confidence | 150 cameras (Leica Wiki, "Gold 1965-1995 'Singapur 30 Jahr' 150 cameras"); the Commons photographer's caption also gives 150 sets worldwide. |
- Lens cams, the buyer's question for any R body. The R6.2 reads only the third, stepped "R cam": 3-cam, R-only and ROM lenses all meter at full aperture, and the ROM contacts go unused (Karen Nakamura; English Wikipedia's Leica R bayonet article). On 1-cam and 2-cam Leicaflex lenses the sources part company. Nakamura says they mount and meter stopped down with the depth-of-field lever pressed, and the Wikipedia bayonet article likewise gives stop-down metering only on the R3–R7; Leica's own R9 instructions say Leicaflex lenses without the R cam "must be fitted with the R control cam" before use on the R9 "or other Leica R cameras (from the LEICA R3)", and refer owners to Leica's customer service for the conversion. Treat an unconverted 1-cam or 2-cam lens as one to check, not one to assume.
- Karen Nakamura's specification table gives "$2495 MSRP" in its R6.2 column, with no year or source; it is not used as a structured price. Cambridge Camera Exchange of New York, in its advertisement in Popular Photography, November 1993, priced the R6.2 at $2,049, against $1,495 for the R6, $1,349 for the R5 and $1,889 for the R7 in the same column: a dealer's discount prices, not list prices, with no word on tax, and the R6.2 above the automatic R7. Nakamura writes that a new R6.2 cost as much as the far more advanced R8, and that Leica dropped it for faltering sales.
- The Leica Wiki and Karen Nakamura both name Sebastião Salgado as an R6.2 user; apotelyt says only that he chose "R6-cameras".
- The Leica Wiki lists an R6.2 user manual printed VIII/99, that is August 1999, which fits the serial evidence for sales after 1997.
How to tell them apart
- 1/2000 on the shutter-speed dial, against 1000 on the R6 (Leica Wiki; camera-wiki)
- Frame counter moved next to the metering selector switch and placed under a magnifier (Leica Wiki; apotelyt)
- Red 'Leica' emblem on the rewind side and the model number on the shutter-release side, camera-wiki's rule for German-made R bodies (Portuguese ones carry a red 'Leitz' emblem on the release side)
- No exposure-mode dial: the selector under the speed dial only switches between selective and full-field metering (camera-wiki; Karen Nakamura)
Leica R6.2 black (10074):
- Black finish all over; the Leica Wiki's serial table labels these 'Schwz', black anodized aluminium
- 1/2000 as the top figure on the shutter-speed dial; the R6 stops at 1000 (Leica Wiki; camera-wiki)
- Frame counter beside the metering selector switch, under a magnifier (Leica Wiki, quoting jcb; apotelyt)
Leica R6.2 chrome (10073):
- Chrome top and base plates; Japanese dealers write シルバー (silver). The Leica Wiki's serial table labels these 'Hell', clear anodized aluminium
- Same controls as the black camera: 1/2000 on the dial and the magnified frame counter
Leica R6.2 gold "Singapur 30 Jahr" (1965–1995):
- Gold finish all over the body, prism housing and top plate (Wikimedia Commons photo by Solomon203)
- Leica R6.2 black (10074): Order number 10074 (Leica Wiki; apotelyt). The first numbers sit in two blocks Leica's records share between the R-E and the R6.2, and one R6.2, no. 1697362, is reported by the Leica Wiki in an R5 block. Black is the commoner finish in apotelyt's split (11,900 against 9,100), and it dominated production to 1996; in the later numbers the Leica Wiki takes from a second list, the only black batch is ten cameras in 2001.
- Leica R6.2 chrome (10073): Order number 10073 (Leica Wiki; apotelyt). The first chrome block was assigned on 4 August 1992, seven months after the first black one. Nearly every batch the Leica Wiki lists after 1996 is chrome.
- Leica R6.2 gold "Singapur 30 Jahr" (1965–1995): Marks thirty years of Singapore's independence. The Leica Wiki places the 150 cameras inside the chrome block 2007001–2008000; Gandy's list from Leica's records has that block only as "R6-2 Chrome", assigned 15 September 1994, and mentions no gold edition, while the Leica Wiki's own table dates the block 1993. An example was shown at the 2018 Taipei photographic equipment fair, where the photographer's caption (in Chinese) describes it as made in 1995, limited to 150 sets, and priced at NT$800,000: an asking price at the show, not a recorded sale.
Serial-range notes
- 1900001–1903500, 1907501–1908500
- Shared with the R-E (4 July and 25 November 1991, Gandy). The Leica Wiki estimates about 1,750 and 500 R6.2s in them, and also puts about 333 R6.2s in the R5/R-E block 1799001–1800000.
- 1932003–1933000
- A chrome R6.2 block (31 March 1993, Gandy) that starts immediately after 1932001–1932002, which Erwin Puts gives as two gold M4-2s allocated in 1993: the R and M cameras drew on one number series.
- 2177001–2178000
- The Leica Wiki has a 1,000-number black block here from its second list; Gandy has only 2176701–2177000 (300, 28 August 1995) and 2177751–2178000 (250, 28 February 1995).
- 2429001–2782020
- Batches of 500 or fewer from 1997 to 2001, the last two only ten cameras each (2782001–2782010 chrome, 2782011–2782020 black). They are not in Gandy's list, which ends in 1996, but come from the second list the Leica Wiki uses, and they are why Puts runs the model to 2001.
Specifications
- Format
- 24×36mm on 35mm film
- Finder
- Fixed eye-level pentaprism, interchangeable focusing screens, eyepiece shutter, dioptre correction −2 to +2 · 0.8× magnification · 92% coverage
- Shutter
- Leica-designed and Leica-built mechanically timed, vertical-travel metal-blade focal-plane shutter · 1s – 1/2000 in whole stops, B; flash sync at 1/100 (Leica Wiki; camera-wiki; Karen Nakamura) · self-timer
- Film advance
- single-stroke lever; multiple exposures by pressing the rewind release after a shot
- Back
- hinged
- Meter
- TTL, manual match-LED only: full-field integral metering of the whole frame without weighting, or selective metering of the area marked by the outer circle of the focusing aid (7mm, Karen Nakamura). Nakamura gives EV −1 to 19 integral and EV +1 to 19 selective; film speed ISO 8–6400 (Leica Wiki; Nakamura). TTL flash with SCA 350/351 and 550/551 adapters (Nakamura). Two SR44 or one CR1/3N; the battery runs only the meter and the electronic 9-second self-timer, and the shutter works at every speed without it (English Wikipedia; Nakamura; apotelyt). There is no off switch: turning the metering selector fully left switches off the meter, not the release.
- Motor drive
- Leica Winder R4, Leica Motor Drive R4, Leica Motor-Winder R, Leica Motor-Drive R — 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. Mirror lock-up by a cable release screwed into a socket beside the lens mount (Nakamura; apotelyt), which the R5 does not have.
- Weight
- 625 g
- Dimensions
- 138.5 × 88.1 × 62.2 (apotelyt) or 138.5 × 89.1 × 62.2 (Karen Nakamura) mm
- Country
- Germany (Solms)
- Accessories
- Leica Winder R and Motor Drive R, with the R4–R7 hand grips · Ever-ready cases 14568 and 14569 (Leica Wiki) · Leica SCA 350/351 and 550/551 flash adapters; Leica's SF-20 for the M6 TTL and M7 does not work (Nakamura; apotelyt) · Interchangeable focusing screens: plain ground glass, microprism, grid, and clear (apotelyt)
0.80× and 92% (Karen Nakamura). The finder shows the aperture through a window over the lens mount, with an LED to light it, the set shutter speed, the metering pattern and a three-segment LED exposure display like the M6's (camera-wiki; Nakamura; apotelyt). The standard screen has a split image in a microprism collar; apotelyt lists four alternatives.
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 · 16,047 numbers in Gandy's R6.2-only blocks, 1991–1996 (6,498 chrome, 9,549 black) · About 2,600 numbers in the Leica Wiki's post-1996 batches, all but ten of them chrome; with Gandy's chrome blocks that comes to about 9,100, apotelyt's chrome figure
Where sources disagree
- Mounting 1-cam and 2-cam Leicaflex lenses
- They must be fitted with the R control cam before use on any Leica R camera from the R3 (Leica R9 instructions)
- They mount and meter stopped down (Karen Nakamura; English Wikipedia, Leica R bayonet)
Better supported: Leica's instructions: have the R-cam fitted first
- Last
- 1997 (Leica Wiki production era; English Wikipedia; Karen Nakamura's table)
- 2001 (Erwin Puts, Leica Chronicle; serial batches to 2782011–2782020 in 2001 in the Leica Wiki's second list)
- 2002 (apotelyt's specification table)
Camera-wiki says it went on being sold beside the R7 and, for a short time, the R8 (from 1996). Gandy's list from Leica's records stops in 1996 and cannot settle it. Nakamura's text also says the R6.2 "was only discontinued in 1992", which contradicts her own table and every other source. The end year is left open.
- Production
- About 21,486 assigned serial numbers (Leica Wiki)
- About 21,000, 11,900 black and 9,100 chrome (apotelyt)
- 18,000 (Erwin Puts, Leica Chronicle)
Better supported: About 21,000
Gandy's own R6.2 blocks, which end in 1996, sum to 16,047; the shares of the mixed R-E blocks and the post-1996 batches account for most of the gap to 21,486. The figures count numbers allotted, not cameras known to have been finished.
- Minolta relationship
- English Wikipedia: the R4–R7 series was produced 'in continuing cooperation with Minolta' and 'all based on the same chassis', the R4 being based on the Minolta XD-7
- Camera-wiki: the R6 'is a very different camera, developed and manufactured in Solms', with a Leica mechanical shutter
- Karen Nakamura: the R3–R6 were 'designed with some Minolta technology (the XD series), but were manufactured by Leitz in Portugal or Germany'
Not a contradiction so much as two emphases. The body shell and dimensions are the R4–R7 family's; the shutter is Leica's own and is what separates the R6 and R6.2 from the electronically timed R4, R5, R-E and R7.
What reviewers say
- Karen Nakamura (blog) — Treats the R6.2 as an R6 with a 1/2000 top speed and praises both as tough, battery-proof mechanical cameras that many consider the best mechanical SLRs made, while noting that the cost of a mechanical shutter put a new R6.2 at the price of an R8.
- apotelyt (blog) — Values the R6 and R6.2 for working without batteries in any weather, but warns that they are less durable than an M in the long run, with reports of frozen shutter and depth-of-field dials and jammed mirrors needing expert repair.
History
The R6.2 is the Leica R6 with a faster shutter, and the last mechanical SLR Leica made. The R6 of 1988 had gone back to a mechanically timed shutter and manual exposure, with the battery running only the meter and the self-timer, but its top speed of 1/1000 was a stop short of the cheaper, automatic R5. The R6.2, introduced in 1992, raised it to 1/2000. The Leica Wiki lists the other changes as film speeds from ISO 8 to 6400, lighter shutter blades with tighter control of the set speed, and a frame counter moved beside the metering switch under a magnifier. Stephen Gandy’s list of Leica’s factory serial data, published on CameraQuest, places the first R6.2 numbers in blocks shared with the R-E from July 1991 and its own first block in December 1991.
It belongs to the R4–R7 family. English Wikipedia describes that series as built “in continuing cooperation with Minolta” on one chassis, the R4 having been based on the Minolta XD-7. Camera-wiki stresses the other side for the R6: “a very different camera, developed and manufactured in Solms”, whose shutter Leica designed and built itself. Both are true. The R6.2 has the R4–R7 body and accessories, winders and motor drives included, and a Leica clockwork shutter in place of the electronically timed one in the R4, R5, R-E and R7. Camera-wiki says the R6 and R6.2 were made in Leica’s new factory at Solms, Germany, while Portugal built the R3, R4 and most R5s; Karen Nakamura’s table gives only “Portugal or Germany” for the R6 through R9 together. No R body was made in Canada.
The body is about 625g. It has an eyepiece shutter, a −2 to +2 dioptre adjustment, interchangeable screens, mirror lock-up from a cable release, and TTL flash through the SCA 350 and 550 adapters. Exposure is manual only, matched on a three-segment LED display, with a choice of full-field integral metering or selective metering of a 7mm area. For lenses, the camera reads only the third, stepped cam: 3-cam, R-only and ROM lenses all meter at full aperture, and the ROM contacts do nothing on this body. With 1-cam and 2-cam Leicaflex lenses the sources disagree. Karen Nakamura and the Wikipedia article on the R bayonet say they mount and meter stopped down. Leica’s R9 instructions say that Leicaflex lenses without the R cam must have one fitted before use on any R camera from the R3 on.
It came in black (order number 10074) and chrome (10073). Apotelyt puts production at about 11,900 black and 9,100 chrome, and the Leica Wiki at about 21,486 serial numbers in all. Erwin Puts gives 18,000. When it ended is unsettled. The Leica Wiki and Wikipedia say 1997. Puts says 2001, and small chrome batches continue in the serial lists to 2001. Apotelyt’s table says 2002. Camera-wiki says it was still sold beside the R7 and, briefly, the R8. In 1995 there was a gold edition marking thirty years of Singapore’s independence. The Leica Wiki puts it at 150 cameras inside a chrome block that Leica’s own records list as plain chrome, so it is a real object but its serial numbers are not confirmed.
When buying, a battery is needed for the meter and self-timer only, so a body that fires at every speed with no battery fitted is behaving as designed. The meter and display still have to be checked with fresh SR44 cells. Apotelyt reports that the R6 cameras are less durable in the long run than an M, with frozen shutter and depth-of-field dials and jammed mirrors that need a specialist, and Leica no longer services R bodies. There is no master off switch, so a camera stored cocked can fire in the bag. Check the dial for 1/2000 to make sure the body is an R6.2 and not an R6, and look for the red Leica emblem on the rewind side, which marks a German-made R body.
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.
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