By Ked · June 2026
June 2026
The Leica MP is already the purist's modern film M: fully mechanical, brass top and base plates, and the flare-resistant finder that cured the rangefinder-patch flare of the M6. From 2004 to 2019, Leica let you go one step further and order an MP built bespoke, through a program it called à la carte. Instead of picking a catalog model, you worked through a menu of options and Leica assembled the exact MP you specified. The result is that no two à la carte bodies are necessarily alike, and a used one is worth understanding before you pay the premium.
Leica introduced à la carte at Photokina in 2004 and ran it until June 2019, when the program was discontinued. Over its life it covered the film MP and M7, and later the digital M (Typ 240) and M Monochrom (Typ 246). You did not order online. You worked through a configuration sheet, took it to an authorized Leica dealer, and the dealer submitted the order to Leica, which then built the camera to that specification. Every genuine à la carte MP therefore corresponds to a specific factory order, which matters a great deal when you buy one used.
The MP configuration ran through roughly nine choices. The ones that move the camera's look and value the most:
Because each camera is bespoke, value depends on the specific combination, not on a single model number. The configurations that command the strongest premiums are the predictable ones: black paint, a classic engraving, and a scarcer finder magnification such as 0.85x or 0.58x. An unusual leather color can help or hurt depending on a buyer's taste, which is the risk of any bespoke object. As a class, à la carte MPs sell well above a standard MP, partly for the extra build cost of finishes like black paint and black chrome, and partly for scarcity and the cachet of a camera that was ordered rather than pulled off a shelf.
The single most important thing is documentation. You can no longer order an à la carte camera, and there is no public database of serial numbers and configurations, so the original à la carte paperwork is the best evidence that the body left the factory in its current form. This matters because a standard MP can be repainted, re-engraved, or have its finder swapped aftermarket to resemble an à la carte camera. Original order documentation, ideally confirmed against Leica's records, is what separates a genuine factory à la carte from a converted body, and it is a large part of what you are paying for.
Beyond the paperwork, check that the configuration is internally consistent and cleanly executed: even paint, correct engraving fonts, and factory-quality leather fit. Then apply the same checks you would to any used MP. The shutter is fully mechanical and should fire accurately at every speed with a dead or missing battery, since the battery powers only the meter. Confirm the meter responds, the rangefinder is aligned, and the finder is clean.
A standard MP typically sells for around $5,700, with most clean bodies between roughly $4,900 and $6,400. À la carte MPs are thin on the used market and priced individually rather than to a going rate. Current examples run roughly $8,500 to $13,000 depending on configuration, finish, and how complete the documentation is, so figure on roughly 1.5x to 2x a standard MP for a clean, documented one. Because supply is tiny and every camera is unique, treat any single asking price as a starting point rather than a market value.
An à la carte MP makes sense if you specifically want a configuration Leica no longer sells, a black-paint body with a 0.85x finder and the M7 crank, say, and you value that it came from Leica that way, with the paperwork to prove it. It is a collector's and connoisseur's camera. If you simply want an MP to shoot, a standard MP is mechanically identical and costs far less; the à la carte premium buys finish, configuration, and provenance, not capability. Browse current MP listings on UsedCameraTracker to see what standard and à la carte bodies are actually selling for now.