Leica M mount is 70 years old

It's not just the mount that has lasted. It's the body, too. Save for the M5, every M has shared the same basic design. It's simple and beautiful, like good design ought to be. Even the Barnacks are beautiful, if a little more fussy. :-)

 

The Leica M-mount is 70 years old today - Leica Rumors

70 years? On the drawing board, maybe. The first bayonet mount Leica was the M3, introduced in 1954. It overlapped with the IIIg, which had the M39 thread mount. I recall both being advertised in National Geographic.

Yes, Ed, 1954 was a remarkable photographic year, not just for the M3, but several other significant cameras. The retina IIc, IIIc, and Ib stand out in my mind. I am particularly fond of the IIc, which I regard as a highwater for kodak and as having one of the sharpest, and contrastiest, 50mm lenses ever made - real competitor to the summicron and voigtlander ultron (though kodak bought the Nagel company - the retina wasn't really their idea. The purveyors of the little yellow box were profoundly obtuse). Regards, Arthur (apiarist1)