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

Leica R9

Leica · Leica R mount · 24×36mm on 35mm film · 2002

Also known as: Leica R9 · Leica R 9 · Leica R-9 · Leica R9 anthracite · Leica R9 anthrazit · Leica R9 anthrazite · Leica R9 black · ライカ R9 · ライカR9

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Anthracite (10090) Leica R 2002–2009 2881101–2882100 (2002, anthracite only, 1,000 numbers)
2882101–2884100 (2002) and 2924101–2929100 (2003), shared with black 		The only block the Leica Wiki gives to anthracite alone holds 1,000 numbers; the two mixed blocks of 2002–03 hold 7,000 more, in a split nobody has published. Nothing is listed after 2003.
Black (10091) Leica R 2002–2009 2882101–2884100 (2002) and 2924101–2929100 (2003), shared with anthracite The Leica Wiki gives black no block of its own; its numbers are mixed with anthracite
  1. Lens cams. The R9 reads the third, stepped R-cam and, through its additional bayonet contacts, the ROM strip. It takes and meters at full aperture with 3-cam lenses, R-only lenses and ROM lenses (R9 manual: "All lenses and lens accessories from the Leica R range fit the LEICA R9 without any modifications"). ROM lenses also give the body their focal length, which the R9 uses to set the zoom head of a suitable flash, to choose the slowest shutter speed in flash program (1/15 for 15mm up to 1/125 for 61–125mm; 1/250 with lenses without ROM), for electronic exposure correction and, with the Digital-Modul-R, for the image data.
  2. 1-cam and 2-cam Leicaflex lenses must not be mounted. The manual: "Leicaflex model lenses and accessories (without the R control cam) may not be used on the LEICA R9, as they can damage the camera", and says Leica can fit the R-cam. English Wikipedia's bayonet table gives "stop-down, may damage contacts" for both on the R8/R9, and Camera Legend repeats Leica's advice while admitting he has used 2-cam lenses on his R8 without harm. Converting a lens to ROM removes its Leicaflex cams, so it will then fit only the R3 and later.
  3. Lenses and accessories without an automatic diaphragm, such as the PC-Super-Angulon-R 28mm f/2.8 and some early R lenses, meter stopped down in A and m only. Leica M lenses that fit the Visoflex can be used with adapter 14167, also metered stopped down (R9 manual).
  4. Production is not known. Apotelyt's text says "about 8,000 R9 bodies were produced and sold" up to 2009, and its table on the same page says about 9,000. The Leica Wiki's list holds 8,050 numbers, but it stops at 2003, so 8,000 may count only the first two years of a seven-year run.
  5. The R9's launch list price is not known. Nemeth says the R9 cost €350 more than the R8, which the Associated Press reported at US$2,995 for the body in December 1996. Later figures are used prices: €650 for an anthracite body in 2011 (Leica Wiki, kind of sale not stated); a used R9 "a good $500 more than a used R8", with R9 prices "trending at" $650–1,000 or more, in 2016 (Camera Legend); €1,140 including buyer's premium for an unused boxed anthracite at Leitz Auction 45.
  6. The Digital-Modul-R (14439) replaces the back and screws a power unit to the base, making the R8 or R9 a 10-megapixel digital camera with a 26.4×17.6mm Kodak sensor and a 1.37× crop (Apotelyt; Nemeth). Leica supplied focusing screens marked for the crop (Apotelyt; the Leica Wiki lists screen 14395 with a grid for the DMR), and the back gives no TTL flash. Leica announced it on 25 June 2003; Nemeth and Apotelyt have it shipping in June 2005, English Wikipedia says production units shipped in 2006. Nemeth quotes US$5,995 or €4,750 approximate retail in March 2006 and a Leica USA notice of 8 February 2007 phasing it out; Apotelyt says about 2,200 were made. Nemeth warns that "Older R8's may be incompatible" and names no such problem for the R9.
  7. Bodies with "Betriebsk." (Betriebskamera, a camera used inside the factory) written on the back door are reported by a 2015 Leica Forum reply for the R8 and R9; the poster says some were sold to private buyers and carry no significant premium today, and that he knows of no limited edition of either. A "Madonna R9" mentioned earlier in the thread could not be traced by the poster who asked.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • R9 engraved on the front plate to the right of the mount, LEICA on the prism front
  • A small LCD frame counter on the top plate between the wind lever and the shutter-speed dial: the R8 has none, and this is the quickest way to tell them apart in photographs (English Wikipedia; Leica Wiki). It works only with the camera switched on (Nemeth)
  • A locking button behind the mode dial, which the R8 lacks (R9 manual; English Wikipedia)
  • Backlit rear LCD panel (Leica Wiki; Apotelyt)
  • Black or anthracite top plate only; a silver-chrome top on the same body shape is an R8

Anthracite (10090):

  • Grey metallic top plate, which the manual calls an anthracite finish on die-cast magnesium; the R8's silver chrome was dropped, so a light top plate with a top LCD counter is an anthracite R9 (Leica Wiki; English Wikipedia)
  • Black engraved LEICA on the prism front and R9 to the right of the mount, red Leica dot on the left as you face the camera (Commons photograph by Rama)
  • Order number 10090 (Leica Wiki; Apotelyt; Leitz Auction's lot title)

Black (10091):

  • Black lacquered top plate with white engraving, against the grey of anthracite (R9 manual; Commons photographs by Rama)
  • Order number 10091 (Leica Wiki; Kamerastore); Apotelyt gives 10093 for black, see disputed

Serial-range notes

2855051–2855100
Fifty numbers assigned in 2002, finish not stated, directly after the last R8 block (Leica Wiki, from Puts's Pocket Pod).
2881101–2884100
The 2002 blocks: 1,000 anthracite, then 2,000 black and anthracite mixed (Leica Wiki). Leitz Auction's unused no. 2881874 is dated 2002.
2924101–2929100
5,000 black and anthracite, 2003, the last block in the Leica Wiki's list. Its total of 8,050 assigned numbers covers 2002–03 only; no published list covers the 2004–09 blocks.

Specifications

Format
24×36mm on 35mm film
Finder
fixed pentaprism, high eyepoint, built-in dioptre correction of about ±2 dpt with correction lenses from −3 to +3, built-in eyepiece shutter; five interchangeable focusing screens, the universal screen (split image, microprism ring, ground glass) as standard (R9 manual) · 0.75× magnification · 93% coverage
Shutter
microprocessor-controlled vertical-travel metal-blade focal plane, made by Copal (Apotelyt; English Wikipedia) · 16s–1/8000 in half steps when set by hand (T and m); 32s–1/8000 stepless in P and A; B (R9 manual) · flash sync 1/250 (X), first or second curtain; HSS from 1/350 to 1/8000 with suitable flash units and the SCA 3502M3 adapter (R9 manual; the Leica Wiki says 1/360); hot shoe with SCA contacts and a standard PC socket · self-timer
Film advance
single-stroke lever with automatic film threading; base coupling for the Motor-Winder R8/R9 and Motor-Drive R8/R9, both of which also rewind
Back
with a film-cartridge window and a window for checking film transport; replaceable by the Digital-Modul-R (R9 manual)
Meter
Silicon photodiodes in the bottom of the camera and on the auxiliary mirror, behind a partly transparent main mirror (70% reflection, 30% transmission). Three patterns, each usable in every mode: selective (7mm circle), six-field multi-pattern, adjustable by ±0.7 EV in 0.1 EV steps, and centre-weighted. Range EV −4 to 20 selective and EV −2 to 20 for the other two, at ISO 100 with an f/1.4 lens; ISO 6–12,500 by hand, DX 25–5,000; ±3 EV compensation in half steps. Memory lock for selective and centre-weighted readings in all automatic modes on the half-pressed release. Modes P (shiftable program), T, A, m and F, a selective TTL test-flash reading taken before the exposure with any flash. TTL flash control is centre-weighted only, with SCA 3000/3002 units through the SCA 3501 or 3502M3 adapter or the Leica SF 20. Two 3V CR2 lithium cells in the body, or the winder's or drive's batteries; everything stops without power (R9 manual).
Motor drive
Leica Motor-Winder R8/R9, Leica Motor-Drive R8/R9 — The winder gives about 2 frames a second on two 123 lithium cells and powers the camera; the drive gives 4.5 or 2 a second or single frames, three-frame bracketing in ½ or 1 EV steps, and powers the camera from its NiMH pack (R9 manual). Both take the Remote Control R8/R9, which cannot be connected to the bare camera (English Wikipedia). Apotelyt notes that every accessory made for the R8 fits the R9.
Designed by
Alfred Hengst — housing, dated 29 July 1996 (Leica Wiki) · Manfred Meinzer — housing, dated 29 July 1996 (Leica Wiki); chiefly responsible for the R8 design it carries over (English Wikipedia) · Uwe Reinstädtler — film advance, dated 27 August 1997 (Leica Wiki) · Heinz Fischer — film advance, dated 27 August 1997 (Leica Wiki)
Weight
790 g
Dimensions
158 × 101 × 62 (width × height × depth; R9 manual). With the Digital-Modul-R 158 × 140 × 89 and 1,395 g (Apotelyt) mm
Country
Germany: assembled at Leica Camera AG, Solms. English Wikipedia (Leica R4–R7) says the R-E and every later R body were assembled in Solms while the Portuguese factory went on making sub-assemblies and accessories; a 2004 DPR Forum poster says R9 bodies were made at Vila Nova de Famalicão, Portugal, and finished in Solms. See disputed
Accessories
Motor-Winder R8/R9 and Motor-Drive R8/R9 · Remote Control R8/R9 (on the winder or drive only) · Digital-Modul-R (14439) digital back, with focusing screen 14395 · SCA 3501 and SCA 3502M3 flash adapters; Leica SF 20 and SF 24D flash units · Five interchangeable focusing screens; correction lenses −3 to +3 dpt; angle finder 14300 · Adapter 14167 for Visoflex-mount M lenses

0.75× with a 50mm lens at infinity and 0 dpt; a 23×35mm field, 93% of the frame (96% vertical, 97% horizontal), matching a slide mount (R9 manual). LCD lines below the image show mode, metering pattern, aperture in half stops, shutter speed or light balance, compensation and flash status. Camera Legend, writing from his R8, found the finder bright and clear but smaller and less easy to focus than the Leicaflex SL's.

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 1,000-number anthracite block and the 7,000 numbers in mixed blocks are this page's sums of the Leica Wiki's block ranges

Where sources disagree

Order number of the black R9
  • 10091 (Leica Wiki: "10 090-anthracite - 10 091-black - 10 093"; Kamerastore, "Leica R9 (Black, 10091)")
  • 10093 (Apotelyt: "sold in Black (order number 10093) and Anthracite finishes (10090)")

Better supported: 10091

The Leica Wiki lists 10093 as a third number without saying what it is, and no source explains it.

End of production
  • 3 March 2009: the Leica Forum's news post of 4 March says Leica told its sales agencies "yesterday" that it had no more R9s or R lenses in stock and planned no new production
  • 4 March 2009, by the L-Newsletter (English Wikipedia)
  • 5 March 2009: DPReview's report of a letter to dealers
  • From the beginning of March: Photo Review, 27 March 2009, quoting a Leica statement

Better supported: 3 March 2009 for the dealer notice

The dates are of reports, not of different events.

HSS flash range
  • 1/350 to 1/8000 (R9 manual, technical data)
  • 1/360 to 1/8000 (Leica Wiki)

Better supported: R9 manual

Production
  • About 8,000 (Apotelyt, text)
  • About 9,000 (Apotelyt, specification table on the same page)
  • 8,050 numbers assigned in 2002–03 (Leica Wiki), with nothing listed for 2004–09
Country
  • Final assembly in Solms, sub-assemblies from Portugal (English Wikipedia, Leica R4–R7, for the R-E and every later R body)
  • DPR Forum, May 2004: one poster saw "Made in Germany" on the back of a dealer's R9; another believes it is assembled in Solms from parts made from Japan to Portugal; two others say R9 bodies were made in Portugal (one, after visiting the Vila Nova de Famalicão plant, that bodies leave it tested but without the top plate, which is fitted in Solms before the camera is re-tested and engraved Made in Germany). None cites a document
Where the 100 g was saved
  • Magnesium casting for the top plate instead of zinc alloy, aluminium instead of steel for the bottom plate's frame (English Wikipedia; Leica Wiki; Apotelyt)
  • Mainly magnesium alloy in the frame and polycarbonate in the base (Nemeth)
  • The manual's technical data give a die-cast magnesium top panel, an aluminium inner housing and a glass-fibre-reinforced polycarbonate base, without comparing them with the R8

What reviewers say

History

The R9 is the R8 of 1996 revised, and the last film SLR of Leica’s R series. It was shown at Photokina in September 2002. Like the R8 it owes nothing to Minolta: the R3 had been developed with Minolta alongside the Minolta XE, and the R4 to R7 shared a chassis based on the Minolta XD-7, while the R8 was, in English Wikipedia’s words, “solely a Leica design”, with a Copal shutter running to 1/8000. The R9 keeps that body, shutter and metering. It is 100 g lighter, at 790 g: English Wikipedia, the Leica Wiki and Apotelyt credit a magnesium top plate in place of zinc alloy and an aluminium rather than steel base-plate frame, while Nemeth puts it down to magnesium alloy in the frame and polycarbonate in the base. It adds a frame counter on the top plate, a lock on the mode dial, a backlit rear display, finer adjustment of the multi-pattern meter and high-speed flash sync from 1/350 to 1/8000 with suitable flash units (Metz’s HSS mode) on the SCA 3502M3 adapter. Andrew Nemeth thought it should have been called the R8.2, and the size that earned the R8 its nickname, the “Hunchback of Solms”, is unchanged.

There are two finishes, anthracite (10090) and black (10091; Apotelyt gives 10093, a number the Leica Wiki lists without explanation). The silver chrome of the R8 was not offered, which makes the R9 easy to tell from the R8 in photographs: look for the small LCD window between the wind lever and the shutter-speed dial, and for a grey rather than silver top. The R9 was assembled in Solms: English Wikipedia says the R-E and every later R body were, while Leica’s Portuguese factory went on making sub-assemblies and accessories. A poster on the DPR Forum in 2004, who had visited the plant at Vila Nova de Famalicão, said R9 bodies were built and tested there and shipped without top plates, which were fitted in Solms before the Made in Germany engraving; that is a forum report, not a Leica statement. No R body was made in Canada. The only published serial list stops in 2003 with 8,050 numbers, and Apotelyt’s “about 8,000” (and, in its own table, 9,000) may count only those first two years. In March 2009 Leica told its dealers it had no R9s or R lenses left in stock and planned no new production. At the time it spoke of working towards a “generation change” for the R system, helped by what it had learned developing the S2; Apotelyt says the digital R10 that Leica worked on never got beyond development.

On lenses the R9, with the R8, is the most capable R body. It meters at full aperture with 3-cam, R-only and ROM lenses, and it reads the ROM contacts. From them it takes the focal length, which it uses to set a zoom flash head, to pick the slowest shutter speed in flash program, and to record lens data with the Digital-Modul-R. Leica’s own manual says 1-cam and 2-cam Leicaflex lenses “may not be used on the LEICA R9, as they can damage the camera”, so check the back of any old lens for the stepped R-cam before mounting it. Lenses without an automatic diaphragm meter stopped down, in A and m only. The Digital-Modul-R back, announced in June 2003, fits the R9; Nemeth and Apotelyt have it shipping from June 2005, English Wikipedia from 2006, and Nemeth warns only that older R8s may be incompatible. With the back fitted the camera weighs 1,395 g (Apotelyt).

When buying, remember that the R9 is entirely electronic and does nothing without its two CR2 cells or a winder or drive to power it, so test every mode, the metering patterns and the flash circuit. Nemeth points out that the base contacts for the winder are still exposed, as on the R8, and that the plastic film-guide bar he blames for scratching film may have been kept. Apotelyt knows of no major defects. Boxed, unused anthracite bodies come up at auction: Leitz Auction sold no. 2881874 of 2002 for €1,140 including buyer’s premium.

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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 R9
Leica R9, anthracite, with an Elmarit-R 28mm f/2.8 — Rama, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0 fr)
Leica R9
Leica R9, black, with the Digital-Modul-R and a Summilux-R 50mm f/1.4 — Rama, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0 fr)
Leica R9
Leica R9 with the Digital-Modul-R, from behind; the top-plate frame counter is beside the shutter-speed dial — Rama, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0 fr)

Live listings

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

Related: Leica R8

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 (18)

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.