| Name |
LEICA M-A |
| Camera type |
Leica M-A (type 127) compact, 35 mm rangefinder system camera with a mechanically controlled shutter |
| Lens mount |
Leica M-Bayonet |
| Lens system |
Leica M-Lenses,16–135 mm |
| Exposure control |
Manual setting of shutter speed and aperture with values from an external exposure meter or by estimation |
| Flash exposure control |
|
| Flash connection |
Hot shoe – accessory shoe with centre contact |
| Synchronisation |
On first shutter curtain |
| Flash exposure control |
Computer control by the flash unit or guide number calculation and manual setting of the required aperture value |
| Viewfinder |
|
| Viewfinder principle |
Large, bright, combined bright-line viewfinder with automatic parallax compensation |
| Eyepiece |
Adjusted to –0.5 dioptres; correction lenses available for –3 to +3 dioptres |
| Image field framing |
By projection of pairs of bright-line frames for 28 and 90 mm, 35 and 135 mm, 50 and 75 mm lenses; automatic display of corresponding frames when lenses are locked into the bayonet mount |
| Frame selector |
Lever enabling alternative frame pairs to be displayed in the viewfinder without changing lenses (e.g. for framing comparisons) |
| Parallax compensation |
The horizontal and vertical differences between the viewfinder and lens axes are automatically compensated for in relation to the focusing distance |
| Concordance of viewfinder and film image |
The bright-line frame size corresponds to an image size of approx. 23 × 35 mm at the minimum focusing distance for all focal lengths; focused at infinity, and depending on the focal length, approx. 9% (28 mm) to 23% (135 mm) more will be captured on the film than is shown in the corresponding brightline frame |
| Magnification |
0.72× (for all lenses) |
| Long-base rangefinder |
Coincident and superimposed image rangefinder, shown as a bright field at the centre of the viewfinder image |
| Effective rangefinder base |
49.9 mm (mechanical rangefinder base 69.25 mm × viewfinder magnification 0.72×) |
| Shutter and shutter release |
|
| Shutter |
Horizontal rubberised-cloth focal plane shutter; extremely low noise; mechanically controlled |
| Shutter speeds |
From 1 s to 1/1000 s in one-stop increments, B for exposure times of arbitrary length |
| Shutter release |
Standard internal thread for remote-release cables |
| Film loading, advance and rewinding |
| Loading |
Manual loading after removal of the base and opening the rear flap |
| Film advance |
Manually, with rapid wind lever or Leicavit M; motorised, with Leica Motor-M, Leica Winder-M, Leica Winder M4-P or Leica Winder M4-2 (from article number 10 350) |
| Rewinding |
Manual, pull-out rewind knob after disconnecting the advance mechanism with the R-lever on the front of the camera |
| Frame counter |
On camera top plate; automatically reset when camera baseplate removed |
| Camera body |
|
| Material |
One-piece full-metal body with rear flap; top deck and baseplate in brass with black or silver chrome finish |
| Tripod bush |
Thread A 1/4, DIN 4503 (1/4") |
| Rear flap/features |
Reminder dial for film sensitivity |
| Dimensions |
Approx. 138 × 38 × 77 (length × depth × height, in mm) |
| Weight |
Approx. 578 g |
| Package includes |
Body cap and carrying strap |
