What’s the point in the Leica M-A? Why not buy am M4-P or an M3 for a fraction of the price and achieve the same results, not to mention the same fun? It’s a question many have asked. Hamish Gill of 35mmc.com felt much the same until he got in the review camera from Leica Mayfair. “Well,” he points out, “actually I think there is a little more to the Leica M-A than might initially meet the eye, both in terms of what it is as a functional object and what it represents as a product.” Hamish is in the enviable position of owning a number of Leicas from the 1950s to the latest M7 and he looks at the M-P from the basis of a lifetime of experience:
The Leica M-A…..feels like it shares the design philosophy of M3, a philosophy of absolutely no cost cutting measures at all. Cast your eye over the back of the camera and you won’t see a plastic bit of crap dial, you will see an ISO dial that’s made of metal and is in fact reminiscent of the one first seen on the M3; it’s just a little more modern looking in its design.