Cheapest M Mount Camera You Can Get 2024

M mount represents a piece of history and photographers' love for Leica rangefinder cameras. But for most people, choosing an M mount body also means being able to use those legendary lenses, such as Zeiss Planar, Leica Summicron, Voigtlander Nokton, etc.

Although M mount is often equated with Leica rangefinder cameras, not all cameras using M mount are from Leica, and not all Leica cameras with M mount are expensive and out of reach.

In the following text, I will divide the recommended camera bodies into two categories: Lecia M mount body and non Leica m mount camera, and mark whether they are film cameras.

Budget Lecia M mount bodies

Lecia CL (Leica Minolta CL film camera)

Image source:Wikipedia

The Lecia CL is a film camera designed by Leica and Minolta and manufactured by Minolta in Japan. This camera was released in 1973. The camera body is made of plastic and there is also a Minolta logo under the Lecia logo on the top. Many people think that this camera is not pure enough, not made in Germany with a brass body, but the price of this M mount camera is only around $1,000.

Leica m8 (Digital)

Image source:Wikipedia

The Leica M8 is the first M series rangefinder digital camera launched by Leica Camera on September 14, 2006. It uses the APS-H 10.3 megapixel CCD image sensor designed and produced by Kodak. Since it is a CCD sensor camera and it is a camera from more than ten years ago, the price of this digital Leica M is about $2,000.

Budget Non Lecia M mount bodies

Voigltander Bessa R2（film）

Image source:Wikipedia

In 2002, Cosina released the Voigtländer Bessa R2, a 35mm film camera with a Leica M mount. The Voigtländer Bessa R2 replaced the plastic plate of the previous model with a magnesium alloy, and used a sturdier cast (rather than pressed) metal film rewind lever. However, the camera didn't last long, and the price on the used market is around $1,000.

Epson R-D1

Image source:Wikipedia

R-D1 was jointly developed by Seiko Epson and Cosina and manufactured by the latter, which also builds the current Voigtländer cameras. It uses Leica M-mount lenses.

An unusual feature to note on the R-D1 is that it is a digital camera that has a manually wound shutter with a rapid wind lever. The controls operate in the same way as film-based rangefinder cameras.

This is a digital CCD rangefinder camera that is older than the Leica M8, and the price on the used market is around $1,000.

Summary

Since Leica has been using M mount for decades, there are still many lens manufacturers producing high-quality M mount lenses, but you don't have to use an M mount camera body to use these lenses. You can buy the K&F CONCEPT Leica M Mount Body Adapter to give your DSLR/mirrorless cameras a photo quality close to that of Leica M cameras.