The best Leica cameras
Leica stands for optical excellence and premium cameras, including its iconic rangefinder cameras. The brand has transitioned successfully into digital imaging, where it has been associating with Panasonic. Leica offers a comprehensive range of models, comprising both interchangeable lens cameras and compact digicams that come with a built-in lens. It also uses a variety of imaging sensors in its models, ranging from Medium format, over full-frame and APS-C to small 1/2.3-inch sensors.
The choice of a particular type of camera depends very much on the intended use. A professional wedding photographer has different requirements than a casual family holiday shooter, and a sports reporter has different needs than a landscape artist. The importance of individual preferences and selection criteria means that the question which camera is best is not easy to answer. That said, general camera rankings can give a useful overview of the overall capabilities of various camera models and thereby provide the basis for more use-specific model comparisons and assessments.
The highest rated Leica cameras
The Camera Elo represents a comprehensive rating that takes the body, sensor and feature characteristics of digital cameras into account. It is based on the outcomes of thousands of pair-wise comparisons undertaken via the CAM-parator app.
The Leica SL3-S is currently the top-ranked Leica camera with a Camera Elo of 3118, followed in second place by the Leica SL3 with a rating of 3031. The table below lists the 20 highest ranked Leica cameras in descending order of their Elo. It also reports the cameras' DXO Mark sensor quality score, which can be taken as indicators of pure image quality. For both the Camera Elo and the DXO score, higher values represent better performance.
| Camera Model |
Lens Type |
Camera Elo |
DXO Score |
Camera Type |
Resolution (MP) |
Video Format |
Camera Launch | Launch Price | Street Price |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Leica SL3-S | L Mount | 3118 | 97 | Mirrorless | 24.0 | 6K/30p | Jan 2025 | US$ 5 299 | amazon.com | |
| 2. | Leica SL3 | L Mount | 3031 | 97 | Mirrorless | 60.3 | 8K/30p | Mar 2024 | US$ 6 999 | amazon.com | |
| 3. | Leica SL2-S | L Mount | 2993 | 95 | Mirrorless | 24.0 | 4K/60p | Dec 2020 | US$ 4 899 | amazon.com | |
| 4. | Leica Q3 | 28 mm f/1.7 | 2930 | 96 | Compact | 60.3 | 8K/30p | May 2023 | US$ 5 999 | amazon.com | |
| 5. | Leica SL2 | L Mount | 2909 | 95 | Mirrorless | 46.7 | 4K/60p | Nov 2019 | US$ 5 999 | amazon.com | |
| 6. | Leica M11 | Leica M | 2799 | 100 | Rangefinder | 60.3 | - | Jan 2022 | US$ 8 999 | amazon.com | |
| 7. | Leica Q2 | 28 mm f/1.7 | 2609 | 96 | Compact | 46.7 | 4K/30p | Mar 2019 | US$ 4 999 | amazon.com | |
| 8. | Leica D-LUX 8 | 24-75 mm f/1.7-2.8 | 2585 | 75 | Compact | 16.8 | 4K/30p | Jul 2024 | US$ 1 599 | amazon.com | |
| 9. | Leica V-LUX 5 | 25-400 mm f/2.8-4.0 | 2506 | 65 | Compact | 20.0 | 4K/30p | Jul 2019 | US$ 1 249 | amazon.com | |
| 10. | Leica S3 | Leica S | 2472 | 98 | DSLR | 64.0 | 4K/24p | Sep 2018 | US$ 18 999 | ebay.com | |
| 11. | Leica D-LUX 7 | 24-75 mm f/1.7-2.8 | 2469 | 72 | Compact | 16.8 | 4K/30p | Nov 2018 | US$ 1 195 | ebay.com | |
| 12. | Leica SL | L Mount | 2461 | 88 | Mirrorless | 24.0 | 4K/30p | Oct 2015 | US$ 7 449 | ebay.com | |
| 13. | Leica CL | Leica T | 2364 | 82 | Mirrorless | 24.1 | 4K/30p | Nov 2017 | US$ 2 795 | ebay.com | |
| 14. | Leica C-LUX | 24-360 mm f/3.3-6.4 | 2321 | 64 | Compact | 20.0 | 4K/30p | Jun 2018 | US$ 1 049 | ebay.com | |
| 15. | Leica TL2 | Leica T | 2320 | 82 | Mirrorless | 24.1 | 4K/30p | Jul 2017 | US$ 1 949 | ebay.com | |
| 16. | Leica M10-R | Leica M | 2257 | 95 | Rangefinder | 40.9 | - | Jul 2020 | US$ 8 299 | ebay.com | |
| 17. | Leica M10-P | Leica M | 2176 | 93 | Rangefinder | 23.8 | - | Aug 2018 | US$ 7 999 | ebay.com | |
| 18. | Leica S Typ 007 | Leica S | 2150 | 93 | DSLR | 37.5 | 4K/24p | Sep 2014 | US$ 24 499 | ebay.com | |
| 19. | Leica Q Typ 116 | 28 mm f/1.7 | 2115 | 85 | Compact | 24.0 | 1080/60p | Jun 2015 | US$ 4 249 | ebay.com | |
| 20. | Leica TL | Leica T | 2102 | 81 | Mirrorless | 16.1 | 1080/30p | Nov 2016 | US$ 1 695 | ebay.com | |
| Note: DXO values in italics represent estimates based on sensor size and age. | |||||||||||
You can access more detail on the listed cameras by clicking on the camera's name. Alternatively, you can compare two Leica cameras using the search boxes below. Just enter two model names into the input fields and you will promptly be taken to a respective comparison.
Further Reading
Additional information on the calculation of the Camera Elo can be found on a respective Elo methodology page. Moreover, there are other rankings of cameras by category that might be of interest:
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