Article by Mark Kronquist, PHSNE Member and edited by Sid Chatterjee, PHSNE Board Member-at-large

Ernst Leitz GmbH, based in Wetzlar, Germany (henceforth Leica), was established in 1869 as a microscope manufacturing company with related optical accessories. Microscopes were produced for biomedical, industrial, and government applications. These customers bought a fair number of standard Leica cameras during the 1930s and 40s. Leica and other manufacturers made adapters for Leica cameras to fit microscopes for microscopic photography.

For those customers, viewfinders and rangefinders were unnecessary frills and expenses for the Leica camera. So, in 1949, Leica released the Leica Ic. The new model “stripped” the original Leica IIIc of its viewfinder, rangefinder, and slow shutter speeds. For the user’s convenience, Leica added a second accessory shoe on the top plate and placed the speed selector dial on a large circular dais.

Leica went on to add to its thread mount (LTM) camera the Visoflex I reflex housing and Bellows I for the screw mount lenses. Leica began offering these significant accessories for close-up macro photography and to complement its established microscope offerings. The finderless Ic and the later models If and Ig gained added users with the Leica Visoflex Mirror Reflex Housings since it made possible the use of telephoto lenses and bellows with the Leica body. Who needs a second expensive outfit for these specialized uses when you can adapt the Leica camera into a pseudo SLR?

With the introduction of the Leica M bayonet mount in 1954, a new series of rangefinder-less cameras came from Leica. First came the M1 in 1959 after the release of the M2, which was followed by the MD, MDa, and MD-2 in 1977. Over about a 30-year period, Leica finderless camera bodies remained relatively rare. Compared to the rangefinder Leicas, rangefinder-less cameras accounted for a small percentage of the sales. They came in an amazing array of models and, despite how uncommon they are, they have not yet captured the attention of collectors.

The Leica MDa was the most popular of the M-mount rangefinder-less bodies. It is an excellent example of a rangefinder-less M4. From 1966 to 1976, a little over 60,000 M4s were made. During that same period, about 15,000 MDa cameras were made and used with microscopes and Leica Visoflex II/III for scientific and macro photography. The Leica MDa retained the M4’s film Rapid Load system and the convenient slanted film rewind lever. The MDa could be fitted with a special baseplate used to insert image references onto the exposed negative (think of it as a non-electronic databack).

To the delight of street photographers and other wide-angle lens enthusiasts, even though the MDa is cool, a Leica, and uncommon, it is not in very high demand. So, when someone says, “I want to be a street photographer with a Leica, but I don’t think I can afford the Leica prices,” tell them to get a used rangefinder-less Leica body, like the Leica MDa.

That camera is robust, reliable, very discreet, and can be used with a large assortment of wide-angle lenses made by Leica and other companies. The MDa has moved out of the labs and industry to become a street photographer’s premier film camera. Wide-angle view photography becomes affordable with the MDa or the earlier Leica LTM rangefinder-less models. These premier cameras are available at reasonable prices from eBay and other online sales platforms.

So grab the rangefinder-less Leica, add the wide-angle lens you love, load your favorite film, set the shutter speed and F-stop for your hyperfocal distance (the Sunny 16 rule is fine), and start creating masterful images.