Leica R7

I am thinking of buying the above camera. I gave heard a great deal about the M lenses but less about the R series lenses. How good are they compared with other brands?

I am thinking of buying the above camera. I gave heard a great deal about the M lenses but less about the R series lenses. How good are they compared with other brands?

 

Back in the mid-late 70's, I had 7 or 8 R series lenses. They're great! They have a certain "look" that, in my eyes, distinguishes them from other lens systems.

 

However, be careful... I was toying with the idea of buying another Leica R-3 and some lenses, but a surprising number of lenses available on ebay mentioned they had haze. That turned me off to the idea of going back to Leica again.

 

You may not have a problem finding good lenses, though. Good luck!

The R7 is the last (and arguably the best) of the minolta-based Leica R cameras built. But there are issues to look out for.

 

1. The foam material used to light-seal the back door deteriorates over time and periodically needs to be replaced. The same material was also used in the mirror box. All R cameras have this issue.

 

2. The R7 circuit board can fail (turning the camera into an elaborate paper weight) and there are no replacement parts unless cannibalized from another camera.

 

3. As has already been pointed out, R lenses are prone to haze, which may or may not be able to be completely cleaned out during a CLA.

 

Unless you know what to look for and how to assess these issues, I'd encourage you to pass on any Leica R camera. Instead look for a clean SL or SL2 (these cameras are virtually indestructible). Then look for 3-cam lenses with little or no haze.

I’ve got a R7 and it’s a good camera, slightly heavier than it looks. Personally I much favour the R6 though; marginally smaller and lighter and I don’t quite like that the metering mode is linked to the PASM selection on the R7. It’s a small thing and might not bug others, though.

 

The R lenses can be excellent and are generally a lot cheaper than M- lenses, though some do cost a lot still. Out of the lenses I own, I would rate most of them as excellent, and even those with a lesser reputation (24 f/2.8 and 180 f/4) are still very good performers.

 

I know most here prefer the SL and SL2, and they are worth considering no doubt. I find them too large and heavy though. That build quality comes at a price. That said, the R6 and R7/do not feel special in any way to me. It’s all about the lenses.

Thanks that's very interesting. Actually I can recall someone who used a focomat enlarged saying the lens periodically filled up with muck and he had to send it off to Levitz for it to be cleaned strange

I've bought all my R lenses from eBay or similar (6 so far) - none of them suffers haze or anything like it. So clearly there are also plenty good quality R-lenses out there; buyer beware is valid always with 2nd hand purchases online, and of course this is no exception. But I never felt I had to be more cautious than I needed to be with Nikkor lenses.

 

To explain my niggle with the R7 metering mode: in manual mode, the R7 can only do spot (selective) metering, in aperture priority you get a selection between spot and integral. On the R6, you can simply choose the metering mode itself (of course, that body is 100% manual anyway). My experience is that the integral metering is pretty good and reliable, so I find it annoying I cannot use it in manual mode on the R7.

R7 and the Summicron-R 50mm f/2, both bought brand new in 1996, was my first Leica set, widely expanded over the years. It is a superb camera and the R lens line is one of the very best in SLR photography. Now, as all the cameras and lenses, age with leave signs---unavoidable for any brand, though. And, after R5, the cameras were Leica-designed and -built, not Minolta! Lenses were always Leica lenses---only a couple of them from Schneider (a plus!) and a 28-70mm slow one, designed by Sigma and sold as kit part.

 

Other issues matter more, in my opinion. Leica company have transferred all R-system spare items to a third party. In other words, you cannot send your R equipment to Leica for repair or CLA anymore. Also, because it is a system from '80s and '90s, I would go for trusted Leica secondhand shops only!

Haze I think is a non issue: or at least no more of an issue than with any other brand. Not sure where this comes from. I agree with Wouter. Lenses are pretty well all good (I make an exception for the original 35 mm f2.8 Elmarit, which I found sub-par) some really great. Robust and with nice integrated lens hoods when possible. Also I too really liked the R6, although it is not a body to get excited about; but a good small, manual camera. The Leicaflexes are rather beautiful, but heavy and the SL's meter is not very sensitive to low light. R stuff is getting old and many prices on ebay are silly.

I thought minolta made the cameras up to the R7 or perhaps the M cameras?

I thought minolta made the cameras up to the R7 or perhaps the M cameras?

 

I had a Leica R3, and I know it was first made in Wetzlar, Germany, then later, production was moved to the Leica plant in Portugal.

 

Don't know about the other R series bodies.

Minolta collaboraetd on some R lenses and bodies, but Leica instituted more rigorous quality controls and rejected a number of Minolta produced items. Minolta/Leica designs had a better track record. Minolta was not involved in M camera production or design.

I thought minolta made the cameras up to the R7 or perhaps the M cameras?

 

Just like SCL said above. Minolta designed and made R cameras up to R4. With R4, however, Leica didn't like the plastic parts and replaced all of them with metallic. Then Leica started building their own models, with R6.2 being their pride, until they changed the R concept completely with the R8. Now, M = Leica only.

 

One point people seldom mention is the characteristic shutter release sound, at least in R6.2 and R7 models. It is a very pleasant, low-frequency, abrupt sound that reminds us of the excellent brake mechanism for the curtains inside the camera.

Just like SCL said above. Minolta designed and made R cameras up to R4.

 

How did Minolta make my Wetzlar R-3 and my Portugal R-3? Did Minolta operate the Leica factories? I seriously doubt it.

Minolta designed and made R cameras up to R4

The R3 used the electronics and some chassis technology from the Minolta XE-7; the metering system and the mirror box were Leica - that's a far cry from "designing and making the camera". No R3 was produced in Japan (as the XE-7 was); the production started in Germany and later moved to Portugal.

 

Minolta was not involved in M camera production or design.

Not on any M camera but most certainly on an M-mount camera - the Leica CL. And later the Minolta CLE.

How did Minolta make my Wetzlar R-3 and my Portugal R-3? Did Minolta operate the Leica factories? I seriously doubt it.

Leica R series cameras (starting with the R3 - ending with the R7), along with some lenses, were essentially a Leitz/Minolta co-op, but were all built in Portugal and Wetzlar, Germany. This is common knowledge to most long-time Leica users.

 

Also look here:

Leica R3

 

and here:

Leica R4–R7 - Camera-wiki.org - The free camera encyclopedia

 

and here:

Leica R-Series SLR - Photoethnography.com's Classic Camera DB

 

BTW, there were no Leica M cameras (excepting the CL) designed or produced by anyone but Leitz/Leica in Wetzlar and Solms, Germany or Midland, Canada. Construction of most M cameras - starting with the M6 - has largely been done in Portugal, but with final assembly in Germany.

Edited December 18, 2018 by Bill Blackwell Images

I would guess that the foggy R lenses have lived in a hot& moist clime. My northern ones are entirely clear. With the proper adapter, R optics will also fit most digital cameras and do perform well.

 

No experience with R7, but my SL2 and R9 work as well as the day they left the factory. Unfortunately Ernst Leitz GMBH was swallowed by the equally high- precision- optical instrument specialist Wild Heerbrugg and has bought several other companies such as American Optical etc. All in all, it has been through a number of mergers and demergers and abandoned the R series rather than go broke. Mechanical issues can - at a price- be fixed by a skilled repairer. Electronic faults in integrated circuits long out of production is another matter.

 

Nowadays Leitz microscopes, geo-measuring instruments and cameras+ binoculars reside in three different companies with different owners and the Leica badge is a matter of licencing (and keeping high quality standards) . If Leica had not tilted its business model towards being a fashion accessory, the camera part might not have survived at all.

 

Leica optics are still first class although their cost is quite high. This reflects high development costs, low production runs, a need to remunerate those who put up the capital as well as the marketing expenditure.

 

Conclusion: Do not hesistate to get the more recent R-optics.

 

p.

I've recently concluded a 12 month experiment, largely shooting old Nikkors from the 50's, 60's and 70's, and modern Voigtlander, in F and S mount, and I really wanted them to "win," because of Nikon's reputation of reliability, but in the end I prefer Leica optics for B&W film.

 

The old Nikkors were ok but I had to add 10-20% to development times and still had to play with them in PS. The modern Voigtlander F mount lenses (40/2 and 58/1.4), although well made and sharp, were terrible with B&W film. I just got awful results. Low contrast and as if each had an orange filter. Tried Rodinal, HC-110 and D76, and after 100' of film gave up. Yuck! Those two lenses must've been optimized for digital and/or color. I got better results with the S mount Voigtlanders (50/2.5 and 50/1.5) from 15 years ago, but I' not much of a rangefinder guy anymore, especially not Nikon rangefinders.

 

Anyway, I found my circa my circa late 70's, early 80's Leica R mount lenses just more full proof. More contrast, maybe a bit sharper then the old Nikkors at wider apertures, but I didn't have to do anything special in development or PS. They just came out good.

Edited February 13, 2019 by stephen_york|3