LeicaCM

The Leica CM comes out of a strange, late-stage moment when film compacts were being engineered for a market that was already walking out the door. Catalogued as a premium compact, it pairs the Leica Summarit 40mm f/2.4 with a 35mm film path. A bit of background: spiritual successor to the Minilux, with a faster shutter and quieter operation.

Format

35mm

Year

2003

Lens

Leica Summarit 40mm f/2.4

Shutter

16s – 1/1000s

Min. focus

0.7 m

Flash

Built-in multi-mode

Battery

1× CR123A

The Leica Summarit 40mm f/2.4 is the everyday-light specialist — not a low-light hero, but contrasty, sharp and honest at every aperture. Film supply is a non-issue: any 35mm cassette from any lab works. A single CR123A lithium cell powers everything including the motor; still cheap and stocked at most camera shops. The built-in flash will fire whenever the meter decides it should, so learn the override before your first night out. Minimum focus is 0.7 m, close enough for a coffee cup or a face but stops short of true macro. One thing worth knowing before you load a roll: last-ever Leica-branded film point-and-shoot — production ended in 2006. Best for everyday life and half-length portraits — a 40-ish lens stays out of the way and renders people without distortion.

Quietly underrated, the Leica CM is the kind of camera people brag about owning five years from now and ten times the price. Worth remembering: a clean CM today often sells for more than it did new.

• §1Spiritual successor to the Minilux, with a faster shutter and quieter operation.
• §2Last-ever Leica-branded film point-and-shoot — production ended in 2006.
• §3A clean CM today often sells for more than it did new.