Leica R8 Film Camera

Pros: The Art of Design

Cons: The Art of Design

The Bottom Line: A worthy replacement for the Japanese Leica Reflex.

Review: Back in the 1970's, Leica essentially gave up on the Leicaflex line and got into bed with Minolta. ...

Pros: Superb lenses, useful exposure modes and metering options, easy to use.

Cons: No auto-focus, expensive.

The Bottom Line: This is a camera that feels solid as a rock, is easy to use and instills confidence in the user. Its only drawback is its relatively high price.

Review: The Leica R8 has been on the market since 1996. When it was launched, it constituted a major advance for Leica in the SLR market. The R8 was radically different from previous R models, in both form and function: it was bulkier and heavier, with a...

Pros: A great "retro" SLR, with wonderful optics

Cons: Lack of popular bells and whistles

Review: Product Review

By Frank Van Riper
Professional photographer, author, and photography columnist of The Washington Post

Here’s an indication of how popular Leica cameras are with their owners:

A friend and former...

Pros: Snob Appeal

Cons: Cost, Customer Service, Reliability, Optical Quality

The Bottom Line: This Leica is a complete waste of money, and the poor performance and lack of customer service only aggravates the situation.

Review: It's almost criminal they call the R-8 a "Leica."

I bought the camera (with the Leica 28mm to 70mm zoom lens) based on the impeccable reputation of the Leica rangefinder. That reputation clearly isn't warranted insofar as the R-8 is...