In the 100 years of Leica, countless photographers have left a great historical mark with Leica cameras, such as the portrait of the romantic revolutionary Che Guevara and the "kiss of victory" embraced by men and women in Times Square. Leica's red cola logo, as if magical, attracts everyone who loves photography. The phrase in Leica's 100th anniversary promotional video is impressive: "We didn't invent the camera, but we invented photography." ”
 
Leica is famous for its full-frame rangefinder cameras, and the M series rangefinder cameras are Leica's most important business card, which gives Leica a retro impression. But when Leica built the mirrorless camera, people realized that minimalism and pragmatism were Leica's consistent design principles.
 
Leica's first mirrorless camera, the Leica T, was released in 2014 in APS-C format. It's still an avant-garde camera to the bone, with a minimalist look that's cut from a single piece of aluminum, with no buttons on the front or back, just a huge touchscreen. Leica has published what has been described as the most boring advertisement in history, documenting the entire process of a Leica craftsman polishing the shell of a Leica T for 40 minutes, which is the average time it takes for each Leica T to be polished by hand. The shape and style of Leica cameras may change with the times, but Leica's workmanship has always been impeccable.
 
However, the original Leica T still exposed the defects of Leica's weak electronic performance in the past, and the price of more than 10,000 yuan can only buy the entry-level configuration level, and the response speed is very slow. However, the successor Leica TL2 released in 2017 has a new look, with an ultra-high-speed shutter speed of up to 1/40000 second, high-speed continuous shooting of 20 frames per second, and a high bitrate video recording capability of 4K-30P. The price of Leica TL2 is around 15,000 yuan, maybe the cost performance of TL2 is still not high, but there is no more avant-garde camera on the market than TL2. In addition to the TL2, Leica also has a relatively unpretentious CL, with basically the same performance specifications as the TL2, and the handling is also biased towards mainstream cameras, the shape is more like Leica's past rangefinder cameras, but it is also relatively mediocre.
 
Full-frame is the essence of Leica, and it has a different meaning for Leica. Full-frame refers to a sensor the same size as 135 film, which is the result of Leica's modification of bulky large-format cameras over a hundred years ago, turning the camera from a large case into a small object that can be worn around the neck, and the full-frame standard is still in use today. "We didn't invent the camera, but we invented photography."
 
The Leica SL is Leica's first full-frame mirrorless camera, released in 2016. Leica's design is always expected, but compared to the avant-garde of the Leica T, the SL is simply unpretentious like an assembly line worker, and many people criticize the design for going backwards. But all this is actually logical, T is oriented to amateur users, mainly touch operation, so T is minimalist; The SL is skewed towards professional users, and the body needs more buttons and dials, as well as a bright viewfinder and a wide handle, which makes the SL what it is. The 24-million-pixel low-pass filter-free sensor, DFD contrast focusing technology from Panasonic, high-speed continuous shooting at 11 frames per second, 4K-10bit-422 video recording capability, a 4.4-million-pixel 0.8x magnification super viewfinder, and a sturdy body machined from a single piece of solid aluminum are all hidden strengths under the unpretentious appearance of the SL, making it a competent productivity tool.
 
Leica cameras don't have to worry about lenses, and Leica itself is the best lens manufacturer. The Leica APS-C system has a total of 6 autofocus lenses to choose from, while the full-frame SL has an L-mount and 4 original Leica lenses. The L-mount is not Leica's exclusive mount, Panasonic and Sigma are all members of the L-mount, and are nicknamed the "marathon" combination by netizens, this combination is extremely strong, and there will be a steady stream of full-frame L-mount lenses and body releases in the future, it is foreseeable that the full-frame system of the L-mount alliance will be the most powerful competitor of Sony's FE full-frame system.