By Ked · May 2026
May 2026
It's 2026 and Leica makes three new film M cameras, and all three are fully mechanical. The Leica MP (introduced 2003), the Leica M-A (introduced 2014), and the Leica M6 in its 2022 reissue form are all current-production, factory-warrantied, fully mechanical rangefinders built around the same cloth focal-plane shutter concept. For buyers who want to buy new rather than chase a used vintage M6 or M4-P, these are the three options. For buyers who want a body that will sit on the shelf for decades and still be serviceable when their grandchildren want to shoot a roll, all three qualify.
The difference between them comes down to metering: the M-A has none, the MP has a built-in meter, and the 2022 M6 has the same meter concept refined with a newer display. This post walks through each one and how to choose.
The MP, "Mechanical Perfection" in Leica's branding, was introduced in 2003 as a deliberate counterpoint to the electronic M7 of the same year. Where the M7 added aperture priority and an electronic shutter, the MP doubled down on what made earlier Ms great: fully mechanical operation, no battery needed for the shutter, and a build that prioritizes longevity over features.
The MP is the camera Leica makes for the shooter who wants brand-new build quality without giving up a meter.
The M-A is the MP without the meter. The "A" stands for "Analog," Leica's branding for "no electronics whatsoever." It was introduced in 2014, eleven years after the MP, for buyers who wanted to take the no-electronics commitment one step further.
The M-A is the camera Leica makes for the buyer who wants to commit fully to the no-electronics aesthetic. It has the most minimal viewfinder of any current M body and the cleanest look.
In October 2022 Leica put the M6 back into production as a new camera, not a special edition of an old one (order code 10557). It keeps the 1984 M6's exterior and the mechanical-shutter, TTL-metering concept, but nothing inside is recycled tooling.
The 2022 M6 is the camera for a buyer who wants the M6's look and control layout specifically, new and under warranty, without the finder flare or four decades of service history that come with a vintage one. See our full M6 variants guide for how it compares to the vintage Classic, TTL, J, and Millennium bodies.
Strip away the meter differences and all three are close mechanical relatives. All three have:
| M-A | MP | M6 (2022) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meter | None | TTL, two arrows | TTL, two arrows plus center dot and low-battery warning |
| Rewind | Knob | Knob | Crank |
| Finishes | Chrome, black chrome | Black paint, silver chrome | Black paint only |
| À la carte history | None | 2004–2019 (discontinued) | None |
| Retail new | $7,000 | $7,100 | $7,000 |
All three cameras have brass top and bottom plates. This matters more than it might sound. Most M Leicas after the M4 used non-brass plates: the vintage M6 Classic and TTL's top plate was zinc alloy (its base plate stayed brass), and the M4-P switched from brass to zinc alloy partway through its production run. Zinc looks fine but it doesn't wear into character. When it scuffs, you see scratched paint or scratched chrome, never the underlying metal. Brass, when it brasses through, reveals the warm yellow of the metal at the wear points, and that brassing becomes part of the camera's character over years and decades of use.
The MP uses a black paint lacquer designed to brass through with wear, the traditional Leica approach — it happens within a few years of normal handling. The M-A's chrome and black chrome finishes are plated onto the brass rather than painted, so they resist wear far longer, only wearing down to the silver plating layer beneath after decades of heavy use. The 2022 M6's black paint lacquer is engineered to resist brassing outright, so it holds its finish rather than developing the worn-brass look over time.
Fair-price data pulled September 18, 2026. Body-only asking prices, using this site's standard method: median as the typical price, the 25th-to-75th percentile as the fair range. Special editions and à la carte builds are excluded from the MP and M-A rows; the 2022 M6 currently has none to exclude:
| Body | Fair price (median) | Fair range (middle 50%) | Body-only listings |
|---|---|---|---|
| MP | $5,600 | $5,001–$6,000 | 27 |
| M-A | $5,183 | $4,784–$5,577 | 14 |
| M6 (2022) | $5,699 | $5,626–$5,995 | 12 |
All three sit well below current Leica retail: the used-market medians run roughly $1,300 to $1,800 under the $7,000–$7,100 new prices above. The 2022 M6's fair range is the tightest of the three, and its sample is the smallest.
Only the MP has an à la carte history among these three. From 2004 to 2019, Leica ran a build-to-order program that let buyers configure an MP through a menu of options: finish, viewfinder magnification (0.58x, 0.72x, or 0.85x), rewind style, engraving, and leather covering. Leica discontinued the program in 2019 and replaced it in 2020 with a simpler custom leather-and-engraving retrofit service that doesn't touch finish or finder. À la carte MP bodies are common enough on the used market that you'll occasionally see one come up, and they typically carry a premium over a standard MP. See our full à la carte guide for what to check. The M-A was never offered through à la carte, and the 2022 M6 doesn't have named special editions yet, unlike its vintage predecessor (see our M6 variants guide for the J, Millennium, and other vintage M6 specials).
Browse current MP, M-A, and M6 (2022) listings on UsedCameraTracker. Each model has its own bucket in the dropdown, so you can compare prices, conditions, and special editions side by side.