LeicaMini 3

Place the Leica Mini 3 in context and you land in the late 1990s — panorama switches, dated LCDs, and a few genuinely brilliant lenses hiding inside plastic shells. Catalogued as a autofocus compact, it pairs the Leica Summar 32mm f/3.2 with a 35mm film path. Worth knowing up front: the widest of the Mini family — 32mm Summar instead of 35mm Elmar.

Format

35mm

Year

1996

Lens

Leica Summar 32mm f/3.2

Shutter

1/2s – 1/350s

Min. focus

0.7 m

Flash

Built-in auto

Battery

1× CR123A

The Leica Summar 32mm f/3.2 sits in the daylight sweet spot: sharp wide open, well-corrected against flare, and small enough to disappear in a jacket pocket. Standard 35mm keeps it compatible with whatever Kodak, Ilford, Fuji or CineStill stock you find on the shelf today. 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. Worth knowing in the field: built by Kyocera this time, not Minolta. Best for street, travel and environmental portraits — 35mm is the all-rounder documentary photographers default to.

The Leica Mini 3 hasn't been swept up by the algorithm yet, which is the entire window — get one before the rest of the internet catches up.

• §1The widest of the Mini family — 32mm Summar instead of 35mm Elmar.
• §2Built by Kyocera this time, not Minolta.