Introducing Matt Osborne, better known to photographers as “Mr Leica”

Matt Osborne, known through his ”MrLeica.com” website, has become a valuable resource for Leica owners around the world. Matt helps them decide which camera and lens will best suit their needs. He does this while photographing some of the world’s most beautiful models, on film and digital media.

Matt’s ‘Point Zero’ on the journey towards Leica

In Agatha Christie’s 1944 novel, “Towards Zero”, one of the principal characters comments that, in most murder-mysteries, the typical story starts with the murder. But that is not where it really starts. It starts at ‘Point Zero’, the moment in which the idea of the murder is first given breath. 

Matt’s ‘Point Zero’ in his journey to becoming “Mr. Leica”, was when a (now ex-) girlfriend gave him a compact camera as a Christmas gift. This was soon superseded by one of the first mirrorless cameras, a Lumix G1. At the time, Matt was travelling frequently on business as a senior auditor, around Europe. So, he started to take the camera on his business trips. 

Having devoted many hours in airports and hotels to learning about photography, he upgraded to a Nikon DSLR camera. As his interest in photography grew, he became known as ‘the camera guy’, among his work colleagues, rather than as the senior auditor.

His interest, in and knowledge of, photography continued to grow. Soon, he was using his Nikon gear to provide tuition, as well as writing technical articles for popular UK photography magazines.

The Focus on Leica

Matt’s pivot to Leica was accidental, the result of trying a student’s Leica M9. But the impact was immediate. Shortly thereafter, he bought a used Leica M9 from eBay and Matt’s career as “Mr. Leica” was underway; the die was cast.

I asked Matt what attracted him to Leica with such a passion. He replied that there were two main reasons.  “Firstly, the Nikon D800 files never inspired me, whereas the images from my first M9 just looked more ‘filmic’.  For a year or so, I used them ‘straight out of camera’ (SOOC), sharing unedited JPEGs to social media”.

“Secondly”, he continued, “the ‘problem’ with Leica cameras is that they are really nicely built, with limited buttons and simple menus. Leica is the only company making true rangefinder cameras in 2025 and this is the closest digital experience to shooting with film.”

Matt’s own preference for Leica cameras is, he informed me, often echoed by the choice of his students who, after studying with him, move to Leica “in search of a simplified, setup” or, simply, “to use the best camera money can buy”.

Matt’s favourite camera depends upon the job in hand. For travel and general use, his preference is a 1930s Leica I, with a Voigtländer 40mm f/2.8 Heliar lens. For 35mm portraits, he uses a Leica M3 single stroke, with a fast 50mm lens. However, for ‘ultimate portraits’, he confesses to using a Hasselblad H3D-39 with 100mm f/2.2 lens, with both digital and 120 film backs.

The birth of “Mr Leica”

In 2013, he started a blog under the name of Mr. Leica, using time spent waiting in airport lounges to create the content. Six years later, as the popularity of YouTube began to rise, Matt started his own channel. He quickly learned that creating two videos per week demands a substantial commitment of time.

Consequently, as his YouTube channel gained in popularity, his interest in pursuing a career in corporate accountancy waned.

Eventually, perhaps inevitably, Matt abandoned his role as a senior auditor. He burned his bridges by cancelling his Association of Certified Chartered Accountants qualification letters. No small step, given it had taken eight years of study to attain them.

So, at the age of 44, Matt embarked upon his new, very full-time, role as a YouTuber, Leica specialist and model photographer. There was no going back.

His initial objective was to create a library of reliable, independent, assessments of cameras and lenses to help Leica users. That remains a recurrent theme in his ever-expanding selection of over 500 YouTube videos. But his educational output has also expanded to encompass the use of Leica cameras in the pursuit of model photography.

Matt, the model photographer

Alongside his encyclopaedic knowledge of Leica cameras and associated lenses, Matt is an accomplished model photographer. He continues to be inspired by his encounters with beautiful women in locations such as Poland, Hungary, Ukraine, and other European countries – many of which he visited during his accountancy career.

Matt has created a methodology for finding models and running successful model shoots, which he has used to train over 100 students. For example, in 2013, Matt started coaching a “wanna-be” model photographer from Switzerland. After multiple 1:1 workshops in London, Zurich, and New York, his student is now established as a confident hobbyist model photographer in his own country.

Today, Matt has a busy schedule, travelling the world, helping Leica owners to use their camera effectively. He also helps them choose equipment and develop their talents as model photographers. He typically makes trips twice a month, in search of models and to hold teaching workshops. These are most often to Europe, but also occasionally to the USA. 

Matt, the business advisor

Matt’s professional training in accountancy is never far under the surface of ‘Matt the Photographer’. He is entirely empathetic to the practical needs of those wanting to chase their dream of becoming a full-time photographer, whilst continuing to ‘pay the bills’.

To help such people, he offers an e-book. He wrote it to equip photographers for the jump to relying upon a camera to support their future. It’s a practical roadmap, rooted in sound financial principles, as you would expect from an ex-accountant.

Matt is not only exceptionally knowledgeable about Leica cameras, lenses and how to use them together to achieve a particular look. He also understands how to build a career based upon the application of that technical knowledge. Coupled with an artistic sensibility, he is able to make great images.

He has distilled the accumulated wisdom of eleven-years’ experience, and over 1,500 photoshoots, into a series of e-books. Through these, he guides both novice and intermediate model photographers through the practice and pratfalls of their chosen photographic niche. He also conducts small-group and one-to-one workshops around the world.

Matt, the person

Matt turned away from a career into which he had invested a university education and eight years of professional experience. He had become successful, travelling internationally for business, and reaching a senior management level in his professional discipline. 

It can be said that “you can take the man out of the job, but you can’t take the job out of the man”. At age 44, Matt created an entirely new future for himself, but which has parallels with his original profession. Matt still runs a ‘business’. It’s a business which provides information, education, and the ‘secret sauce’ of model photography, on an international scale.

Matt is, in fact, a one-man, business operating seven days a week, streamlined to operate at maximum efficiency. Download a free e-book and his automated follow-up email will soon arrive, inviting you to upgrade to his more comprehensive e-book volume, or book a workshop.

His prolific YouTube output and ever-expanding website / blog comprises a wide variety of topics, all relevant to the Leica photographer. Recent videos include, for example:

• Review of Light Lens Lab remake of Leica Summicron 50mm f/2 Rigid
• Review of Voigtländer 90mm f/2 APO-Ultron lens
• How to use filters for portraits
• Who makes the best lenses for Leica
• Amazing for PORTRAITS! (Thypoch Simera 75mm f1.4 for Leica M)

His output is both diverse and of interest to a wide range of Leica camera users and photographers.

Matt’s website provides more information than is practical to deliver via YouTube. Click onto his MrLeica.com website, and you’ll be able to view a portfolio of full-resolution images. You can also browse a carefully organised list of all the cameras and lenses evaluated by Matt. And, of course, he provides links to any relevant YouTube videos.

As Matt told me: “Searching for exactly the information you want is much easier on my website”.

Those who are eager to learn more about Leica cameras, film or portraiture, can sign up for a free e-book, or monthly newsletter, here.

Matt, in conclusion

In 2025, the 100^th anniversary year of the Leica M-camera, it seems fitting to write about a photographer who has so definitively chosen to create their career around Leica cameras.

Matt, is a rare example of a contemporary photographer; one who has successfully blended hard-headed commercial acumen with in-depth technical knowledge of Leica cameras, and an artistic sensibility attuned to the highest standards of photography as an art form.

For readers of MacFilos, Matt is offering a 15% discount on his e-books. Just use the code “MacFilos” at check-out. This discount is valid until 31 December 2025.

Matt can be found here:

E-Books : https://mrleica.com/ebooks/

Website : https://mrleica.com 

YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/@MattOsborne-MrLeicaCom

Instagram : instagram.com/MrLeicaCom

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