The Leica R8 is a manual focus

Manual focus

In the field of photography, a manual focus camera is one in which the operator has to adjust the focus of the lens by hand. Before the advent of autofocus, all cameras had manually adjusted focusing; thus, the term is a retronym....

 35 mm

135 film

The term 135 was introduced by Kodak in 1934 as a designation for cartridge film wide, specifically for still photography. It quickly grew in popularity, surpassing 120 film by the late 1960s to become the most popular photographic film format...

 single-lens reflex camera

Camera

A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...

 produced by the German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 firm of Leica as part of their R series of cameras. Development began in 1990:
the camera was introduced at the 1996 Photokina

Photokina

The photokina is the world's largest trade fair for the photographic and imaging industries. The first photokina was held in Cologne, Germany, in 1950, and it is now held biannually in September at the koelnmesse Trade Fair and Exhibition Centre...

 trade show, and was succeeded by the similar Leica R9

Leica R9

The Leica R9 is a manual focus 35 mm single-lens reflex camera produced by the German firm of Leica as part of their R series of cameras. It was released in 2002, replacing the very similar Leica R8, upon which it improved in several aspects...

 in 2002..

The R8 can be fitted with the Digital Modul R (DMR) digital back (discontinued in 2007http://www.leicapages.com/novelties.html) and used as a digital camera; from 2005 to 2007, the R8 and R9 were the only 35 mm SLRs to take a user-installable digital back. The R8 was the first R series camera to have no association with Minolta

Minolta

Minolta Co., Ltd. was a Japanese worldwide manufacturer of cameras, camera accessories, photocopiers, fax machines, and laser printers. Minolta was founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1928 as . It is perhaps best known for making the first integrated autofocus 35mm SLR camera system...

, and was a completely Leica design; it was stylistically a clean break from the past as well.

Design

Industrial designer Manfred Meinzer was chiefly responsible for the R8 design, along with a team of designers largely new to Leica or drawn from outside; the previous Leica design department had been largely dismantled.

A key design goal was to evoke the Leica M and its smooth top-plate; instead of a raised pentaprism as in previous R series cameras, the R8 has sloped "shoulders" that blend almost seamlessly into the pentaprism housing. The shape is strongly asymmetrical, especially in plan view, with a bulged right handgrip and smaller, tapered left-hand side.

Another goal was to improve the ergonomics and to place controls so they could be easily reached and operated without removing the eye from the viewfinder. Although the R8 is capable of fully automated exposure and (with the addition of the integrally-styled motor drive

Motor drive

A motor drive, in the field of photography, is a powered film transport mechanism. Historically, film loading, advancing, and rewinding were all manually driven functions...

 or winder) automated film transport, a major design goal was that the camera be easy to operate in fully manual mode, since many Leica customers prefer this. In this it differs strongly from other modern SLR designs, which are designed primarily for automatic operation. The top control wheels are sunken into the top plate, with knurled edges protruding at the front where they can easily be turned by hand.

The R8 is substantially larger and heavier than previous R series cameras, being about a third heavier at 890 g than the R7. This is partly explained by being built to take and balance the heavier zoom lenses in the Leica R lens range.

The styling of the R8 proved controversial. Some photographers consider it ugly, and dub it the "Hunchback of Solms" (Solms

Solms

Solms is a town west of Wetzlar in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis, Hesse, Germany.In the constituent community of Burgsolms once stood the ancestral castle of the Counts and Princes of Solms, whose main lines were Solms-Braunfels, with their seat in Braunfels, and Solms-Hohensolms-Lich, with their seat in...

 is the German town where Leica is headquartered). The size and bulk of the camera see a lot of criticism.

Technical information

The R8 was without doubt the most complex camera Leica had ever constructed (prior to the M8). It contained extensive electronics, despite its manual operation bias, and in addition was built in a very modular fashion to integrate seamlessly with motor drive units and new backs such as the Digital Modul R.

Shutter

The shutter used is a Copal vertically running metal-leaf unit capable of speeds between 1/8000 and 32 seconds steplessly in automatic modes, or to 16 seconds in half-stop steps in manual mode, as well as Bulb

Bulb (photography)

Bulb, abbreviated B, is a shutter speed setting on an adjustable camera that allows for long exposure times under the direct control of the photographer. With this setting, the shutter simply stays open as long as the shutter release button remains depressed...

. The flash X-sync speed is 1/250 sec.

The shutter release is in the center of the shutter-speed dial, and is threaded for a cable release. The optional Motor-Drive gives additional front and vertical-grip releases.

Accessories

Leica sell a number of dedicated accessories for the R8 and R9. In addition to the Digital Modul R, these comprise the following:

• Motor-Winder R8/R9: gives powered film transport (loading/advance/rewind) and continuous 2 frame/s shooting. It affixes to the camera's base, adding 20 mm in height, and replaces the right handgrip as well, this containing the two CR-123 lithium batteries
  Lithium battery
  Lithium batteries are disposable batteries that have lithium metal or lithium compounds as an anode. Depending on the design and chemical compounds used, lithium cells can produce voltages from 1.5 V to about 3.7 V, over twice the voltage of an ordinary zinc–carbon battery or alkaline battery...
  
   it uses. A switch enables leader-out rewinds. An additional battery pack may be affixed to the base for extended use. This winder is much lighter and more compact than the previous version, the combination of R8 + Winder is almost exactly the same overall size and weight as the previous equivalent R7 + Winder
• Motor-Drive R8/R9: like the Motor-Winder, but larger and gives continuous 4.5 frame/s shooting in addition to single-shot and 2 frame/s. It provides additional shutter releases ― on the handgrip and on the vertical grip on the base. Enables three-shot auto-bracketing of exposure in 0.5 or 1 EV
  Exposure value
  In photography, exposure value denotes all combinations of a camera's shutter speed and relative aperture that give the same exposure. In an attempt to simplify choosing among combinations of equivalent camera settings, the concept was developed by the German shutter manufacturer in the 1950s...
  
   increments.
• Remote Control R8/R9: an electronic unit that attaches to either the Motor Winder or the Motor Drive; it cannot be connected to the bare camera. In addition to triggering the shutter, the Remote Control can turn the camera on or off, control mode and exposure, control auto-bracketing, and can function as an intervalometer triggering at rates between one per second and one every 24 hours. It comes with a 5 metre cord and can be fitted with up to 4 25 metre extension cords for a maximum length of 105 metres.
• Electric trigger switches: If the functionality of the Remote Control is not needed and all that is required is to trip the shutter, two electric trigger switches are available; one with a 5 metre cord that can also take extension cords, and one with a 0.3 metre cord for shake-free trigger release on a tripod.
• SF 24D flash: Leica's dedicated flash unit enables camera-controlled TTL flash output on the R8 and R9. Covers the field of view of 35–85 mm lenses (with diffusers, 24–135 mm.
• Focusing screens: the standard focusing screen
  Focusing screen
  A focusing screen is a flat translucent material, usually ground glass, found in a system camera that allows the user of the camera to preview the framed image in a viewfinder. Often, focusing screens are available in variants with different etched markings for various purposes...
  
  , ground-glass with split-image and microprism collar, can be replaced by any of five other screens for specialised tasks. For the Digital Modul R, an additional set of six screens marked with the Modul R's sensor crop area can be substituted.
• Other accessories from Leica include a rubber eyecup, right-angle finder, diopter correction lenses, cases, straps, tripods, cable releases etc.

Specifications

Camera type	35 mm single-lens reflex
Lens mount	Leica R bayonet with additional electrical contacts ("ROM contacts").
Operating modes	Manual, Aperture priority, Shutter priority, Program, and Flash.
Metering methods	Selective (7mm central area), 6-element matrix, center-weighted, and flash TTL center-weighted
Exposure lock	By light press on shutter release
Exposure compensation	Plus or minus three stops in half-stop increments, using lever on left side of the eyepiece
Film speed range	Automatic DX coding ISO 25 through 5000; manual ISO 6 through 12,800
Metering range	0.007–125,000 cd/m³ (EV −4 through EV 20)
Electrical power	6 volts (2 × CR2 lithium battery)
Flash synchronisation	Hotshoe center contact or external synch socket; first or second curtain sync, as well as strobe (multiple flashes)View
Flash X-sync	1/250 second or slower
TTL flash metering compatibility	Leica dedicated units and Metz Metz (company) Metz-Werke GmbH & Co KG is a German consumer electronic manufacturer. Besides Loewe and TechniSat, Metz is the only remaining TV manufacturer which develops and produces their devices in Germany. Its head office is in Zirndorf, Bavaria.-Products:... units with Metz SCA 3501 adapter
Viewfinder coverage	93%
Viewfinder magnification	0.75× with 50 mm lens
Self timer	2 sec or 12 sec
Mirror pre-release	Selectable via switch; first shutter release press activates mirror, second activates shutter
Frame counter	In viewfinder and on rear cover LCD
Multiple exposures	Unlimited, with multiple exposure switch on body
Construction	Cast zinc top plate, aluminum frame, synthetic base, rubber bottom
Dimensions	Width: 158 mm; Height: 101 mm; Depth: 62 mm
Weight	890 g