> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.unknowndivide.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Leica M-A vs MP vs M6: Which Film Leica Should You Buy - URL: https://www.unknowndivide.com/leica-m-a-vs-mp-vs-m6/ - Published: 2026-11-11T06:52:43.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-11T11:34:52.000Z - Description: Three film Leicas that look almost identical and feel completely different. How the meterless M-A, the MP and the classic M6 compare, and which one to buy. - Author: unknowndivide staff - Tags: Gear, Tech If you want to shoot film on a Leica, the choice usually comes down to three cameras. Two of them are still made new in Wetzlar: the Leica MP, a mechanical camera with a built-in light meter, and the Leica M-A, a mechanical camera with no meter and no battery at all. The third is the Leica M6, the metered rangefinder Leica introduced in 1984, which became the working camera of a generation of street and documentary photographers and is now the most popular way into film Leica on the used market. They look almost identical from across a room. They feel very different in the hand, and the right one depends on how you like to work. Here is how they compare and which one we would buy. ## The quick answer - **Buy the Leica MP** if you want one new film camera for life, with a light meter to help but a shutter that never needs a battery. - **Buy the Leica M-A** if you already judge exposure by eye or with a handheld meter, and you want the purest mechanical camera Leica makes. - **Buy a used Leica M6** if you want the metered Leica experience for the least money and are happy to buy carefully. ## One mount since 1954 Every camera here belongs to the Leica M system, which Leica dates to 1954\. M stands for Messsucher, German for rangefinder, and the M bayonet mount has stayed the same ever since, so a lens made in the 1950s fits an M-A, an MP or an M6 today. That continuity is the hidden value of buying into film Leica: the camera is the smaller part of the decision. The lenses you buy will outlive the body, and every one of these three cameras will take them all. If you are still choosing a lens, our guide to [Summicron vs Summilux vs Noctilux](https://www.unknowndivide.com/summicron-vs-summilux-vs-noctilux/) explains Leica's 50mm family, and our [rangefinder vs single-lens reflex (SLR) guide](https://www.unknowndivide.com/rangefinder-vs-slr-film-camera/) covers why focusing through a separate window feels so different from looking through the lens. All three share the same basic finder. Each uses a 0.72x magnification rangefinder with bright-line frames shown in pairs for 28 and 90mm, 35 and 135mm, and 50 and 75mm lenses, with the right pair appearing automatically when you mount a lens. All three have a mechanically controlled cloth focal plane shutter running from 1 second to 1/1000 second plus B. In other words, they take the same pictures. The differences are in how they help you expose, what they are made of and how they feel to use. ## Leica M-A vs MP: the meter question ![Leica MP film camera in black paint finish seen from the front with a body cap fitted](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/41/254117cc-2631-4fb7-9f78-fa31eac12f1a/content/images/2026/11/leica-mp-black-paint-film-camera.jpg) Leica MP in black paint. Image: [Leica Camera](https://leica-camera.com/en-US/photography/cameras/m/mp-black-lacquered?ref=unknowndivide.com) The Leica MP arrived in 2003 as a modern version of the classic mechanical M. It has through the lens (TTL) metering that reads a spot 12 millimeters across in the center of the shutter curtain, roughly 13 percent of the frame, and shows the result with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in the viewfinder: two triangular arrows tell you which way to turn the aperture or shutter speed dial, and a central circle lights when the exposure is right. The batteries, two small button cells, power only that meter. Take them out and every shutter speed still works. The top and base plates are brass, and the black paint version wears through to bright brass at the edges with years of use, which many owners treat as a badge of honor. Leica even left off the red dot logo to keep it discreet. ![Leica M-A film camera in black chrome seen from the front with a body cap fitted and no red dot logo](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/41/254117cc-2631-4fb7-9f78-fa31eac12f1a/content/images/2026/11/leica-m-a-black-chrome-film-camera.jpg) Leica M-A in black chrome. Image: [Leica Camera](https://leica-camera.com/en-US/photography/cameras/m/m-a-typ-127-black?ref=unknowndivide.com) The Leica M-A, introduced in 2014 and officially called the Typ 127, takes that idea one step further. It has no meter, no battery and no electronics of any kind. You set shutter speed and aperture from a handheld meter or from experience, and you read both straight off the dials. Leica calls it pure mechanical excellence, and the details back that up: the black chrome version hides its Leica name on the accessory shoe, the silver one carries only an engraving on the top plate, and the rear door has a simple reminder dial for the film you loaded. Here is a touch most people never hear about: Leica has included a roll of Kodak Tri-X 400 with the M-A, because it considers that film the camera's natural partner. The M-A also brings back the classic pull-up rewind knob instead of an angled crank, one more small move back toward the 1950s. ![Back of a silver chrome Leica M-A showing the viewfinder eyepiece, the rewind knob and the round film reminder dial on the rear door](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/41/254117cc-2631-4fb7-9f78-fa31eac12f1a/content/images/2026/11/leica-m-a-back-film-reminder-dial.jpg) The back of the Leica M-A with its film reminder dial. Image: [Leica Camera](https://leica-camera.com/en-US/photography/cameras/m/m-a-typ-127-black?ref=unknowndivide.com) So the real M-A vs MP question is simple. Do you want the camera to tell you anything? If you shoot mostly in steady daylight, know the sunny 16 rule and like the calm of a camera with nothing to check, the M-A is the most honest tool Leica makes. If you shoot indoors, at night or in changing light, the MP's meter will save you frames every week, and it costs you nothing in reliability because the shutter never depends on it. ## Leica M6 vs MP: old and new The M6 is the camera that made a built-in meter normal on a Leica M. Leica says it has been the camera of choice for many of the world's best photographers since 1984, and it is the reason the MP exists at all: the MP is, in practical terms, the M6 idea rebuilt with more traditional materials and finishing. The M6 meter shows two arrows rather than the MP's arrows and center circle, its rewind lever is the angled crank introduced on later M bodies, and Leica made its top plate from zinc rather than brass, so it does not brass through the same way. It also wears the red dot. None of that changes the pictures. The M6 is the best value of the three because there are so many of them; the catch is age. Any M6 you buy has had decades of use, so buy from a dealer who offers a warranty, ask when it was last serviced, check that the rangefinder patch is bright and lines up at infinity, and budget for a cleaning and adjustment. Our [Leica M6 guide](https://www.unknowndivide.com/leica-m6-film-camera-explained/) goes deeper on how the camera works and what to check before you buy. ## Leica M-A vs MP vs M6 compared | | Leica M-A (Typ 127) | Leica MP | Leica M6 | | -------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------- | ---------------------------- | | Introduced | 2014 | 2003 | 1984 | | How you buy it | New | New | Used | | Light meter | None | Selective TTL, arrows and center circle | Selective TTL, two arrows | | Battery | None | Meter only | Meter only | | Shutter | Mechanical cloth focal plane, 1 to 1/1000 second plus B, works without a battery on all three | | | | Viewfinder | 0.72x (the standard M6 finder) with paired frames for 28/90, 35/135 and 50/75mm | | | | Top plate | Brass, black or silver chrome | Brass, black paint or silver chrome | Zinc | | Rewind | Pull-up knob | Pull-up knob | Angled crank | | Red dot logo | No | No | Yes | | Weight | About 578 g | About 585 g | Similar | | Best for | Purists, daylight shooters, people who never want a battery | One film camera for life, any light | First film Leica on a budget | ## Which film Leica for which photographer - **The beginner who has never metered by hand:** the MP, or a used M6 if the budget is tight. Learn exposure with the meter, then decide whether you would like to work without it. - **The street photographer:** any of the three, honestly, but the MP is the one that will handle a dark doorway and a bright street in the same minute. - **The traveler who goes far from shops and power:** the M-A. Nothing to charge, nothing to replace, nothing to fail in the cold. - **The black and white shooter:** the M-A with Tri-X or Ilford HP5 Plus. Both have enough exposure latitude to forgive a guess, and they push well when the light runs out. - **The collector:** the black paint MP, which will slowly turn into a one-of-a-kind camera as the brass shows through. ## Our call **Our call: buy the Leica MP if you can buy one film Leica new.** It keeps everything that makes a mechanical M special, including a shutter that never needs a battery, and its meter will help you on every roll. Buy the M-A only if you already meter in your head or carry a handheld meter and like it that way; it is the purer camera, not the better one. If the price of a new body would stop you shooting at all, buy a well-serviced used M6 and spend the difference on a good lens and plenty of film. **Shop the film Leica picks** **Leica MP:** our pick, the mechanical M with a built-in meter, in black paint or silver chrome. [See it at Leica](https://leica-camera.com/en-US/photography/cameras/m/mp-black-lacquered?ref=unknowndivide.com) **Leica M-A (Typ 127):** no meter, no battery, the purest mechanical Leica. [See it at Leica](https://leica-camera.com/en-US/photography/cameras/m/m-a-typ-127-black?ref=unknowndivide.com) **Kodak Tri-X 400, 35mm, 3 pack:** the black and white film Leica pairs with the M-A. [Check price](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MRHXNEM?tag=unknowndivi02-20&ref=unknowndivide.com) **Ilford HP5 Plus 400, 35mm, 3 pack:** a softer, more forgiving black and white alternative that pushes well. [Check price](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002IS0E76?tag=unknowndivi02-20&ref=unknowndivide.com) **Sekonic L-308X-U Flashmate:** the pocket light meter that turns the M-A or a used M6 with a tired meter into a precise tool. [Check price](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079YWCZNC?tag=unknowndivi02-20&ref=unknowndivide.com) Loading black and white? Read our guides to [Kodak Tri-X 400](https://www.unknowndivide.com/kodak-tri-x-400-black-and-white-film/), [Ilford HP5 Plus](https://www.unknowndivide.com/ilford-hp5-plus-400/) and the [Sekonic L-308X-U](https://www.unknowndivide.com/sekonic-l-308x-u-flashmate-light-meter/). More like this: browse every related post in our [Leica and Film Photography Hub](https://www.unknowndivide.com/leica-and-film-photography/). *As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.*