Deep Six Your Leica?
Try one of these ultra-rare underwater housings! All 3 were beautifully made--in Austria, Switzerland, and Oh, Canada!
By Jason Schneider
Unlike Nikon, Olympus, and Kodak, Leica never offered a branded submersible camera for underwater photography in the analog era. However, in the early ‘50s, Leitz collaborated with Akutstische und Kino-Gerate GmbH (AKG) of Vienna (a high-end manufacturer specializing in underwater gear) in designing an outstanding underwater housing for the Leica IIIf red dial with 50mm f/2 Summitar or Summicron lens. Developed with the technical input of pioneering underwater explorer Dr. Hans Hass, four variants of the AKG housing were listed in the 1954 E. Leitz, Inc, New York catalog under the code letters AKGRSU.
With the Leica IIIf and lens installed, the robust, beautifully crafted AKGRSU weighs in at a whopping 8.5 pounds, but as a result, it’s useable at depths to 330 feet without pressure compensation. Four easy-to-grasp protruding knobs control film transport (TR), shutter speed (Z), aperture (B), and focus (E). The large top-mounted “ball and cross” frame viewfinder is optimized for easy underwater composition.
The AKGRSU was priced at an astonishing $366.00 in 1954, equivalent to $4,398.00 2025 dollars! Perhaps that explains why sales did not meet expectations. The AKG housing does not appear in the 1955 Leitz, New York catalog, and further marketing efforts were evidently terminated. Regrettably there are no production figures available for this unit, but a Leica Underwater Housing outfit by AKG (including a Leica If with 50mm f/2 Summitar) sold for 18,000 euros at Leitz Photographica Auction No. 46 on June 17, 2025.
The Swiss-made HUGY-fot Underwater Housing
This exquisitely made underwater housing for the Leica M3 and 50mm f/2 Summicron lens was introduced in 1955, about a year after the M3’s debut. Constructed from a solid block of seawater-resistant, anodized aluminum, with a hard anodized Teflon coated exterior finish, it was pressure tested to a depth of 100m (330 ft.). The HUGY-fot features a “Hugi Swiss Made” logo, two robust carrying handles, a top-mounted wire frame and ball finder, and a shutter release lever on top. The rear view shows the aperture and focusing distance controls and the top-mounted knobs that control the shutter speed and film advance.
An early (1955) white-finished example (serial number 55053) listed as the “HUGI-fot Underwater Housing for Leica M3” sold for an incredible 22.000 euros (complete with 2-srtoke Leica M3 Nr. 746091 and 50mm f/2 Summicron Nr.1570869) at Wetzlar Camera Auctions on October 5, 2019, handily blasting by its pre-auction estimate of 6,000 -7,000 euros. There were 29 bids(!) and this unit had been recently serviced by master technician Ottmar Michaely. Among the first customers for these superb Swiss made underwater housings: Renowned underwater explorers Hans Hass and Jacques Cousteau, and legendary photographer and cinematographer Leni Riefenstahl. Photos of this housing in a darker hue appear on page 351 of “Leica, an Illustrated History, Vol. III by James L. Lager.
The Leica UW Underwater Housing of c. 1970
Perhaps the most thoroughgoing description of this remarkable “underwater photography system” (often erroneously referred to as a “camera” because it incorporates a lens) is contained in an LHSA article entitled “Leica Underwater Housing” by avid Leica collector James Jensen Jr. The following excerpt was provided to him by Brian W. Vesti, Product Manager Optical Sensors for Hughes ELCAN Optical Technologies, the initial successor to Ernst Leitz Canada, Ltd.:
"The LEICA UW housing was developed by our company (Ernst Leitz. Canada Limited, a subsidiary of Ernst Leitz GmbH., Wetzlar, Germany) in the late 1960's, in collaboration with the US Navy Photographic Center in Washington DC. It was designed to incorporate a standard LEICA camera housing, with the front configured to the field of view of an ELMARIT M 28mm lens. Only a very small number of these UW housings was manufactured (Possibly fewer than 10) for the US Navy, and the project was never extended into a production run. Regrettably, no pricing data is extant for this product, nor are any parts or accessories still on hand. I have also been wondering if this UW camera was conceived as part of the equipment that the Navy and the CIA needed during the CIA's Hughes Glomar Explorer mission to raise a sunken Russian submarine. Perhaps that’s why there is no Navy contract number on the equipment and thus the camera might have been funded by intelligence funds. Perhaps, again, this is why so few were made.”
Here are James Jensen’s thoughts on receiving this astonishing news: “I can hardly imagine that I presently own three out of a possible "less than ten" of these units that have ever been made. And where are the remaining six or seven? I suppose that some are still in the inventory of the Navy. Of course, one must still be on permanent display, the one loaned to the LHSA convention in 1994. Is this part of the Leitz factory collection? And how many remain with the factory or affiliates? Now that Leitz Wetzlar and Leitz Canada (ELCAN) are separately owned, does only one of them have an example? Should the LEICA UW be classified as a camera, or as an accessory? The carrying case identifies it as a camera but to take pictures, you need to install an M series camera. Perhaps I now have more UWs than the entire Leica organization. What joy! This is my Leica odyssey!”
The Leica UW underwater camera housing for the US Navy
Note: This edited excerpt is based on an article by Thorsten Overgaard
The underwater camera system Leitz developed for the US Navy included a complete set of lenses for underwater work, not only for 35mm cameras but also for medium format, 16mm motion picture and TV cameras. These lenses are unique because they were not part of a camera that was simply installed in a water-tight housing; they were integrated into the front of the housing itself. Indeed, the front elements of these lenses were designed to be come into direct contact with water, even salt water, without damaging them!
Typically, a conventional underwater camera housing incorporates lenses that are designed to work in air. That’s why Leitz (and everyone else) takes the refractive index of air into consideration when designing lenses for terrestrial photography. However, in designing lenses for the Leica UW housing, the lenses were designed based on the refractive index of water. In fact, since this system was to be used primarily in salt water, it was the refractive index of salt water that was used in designing of these lenses. However, not all oceans have the same salinity, so Leitz went one step further and took the refractive index of the salinity of the various oceans into consideration. To avoid having to test these lenses in various oceans all over the world, Leitz built a special water tank that could be flooded with water of the appropriate salinity. As the result of these herculean efforts, the correction of these lenses is so perfect that, when the water is sufficiently clear and still there is no way to tell that the pictures were shot underwater! Leitz was the first company to execute such a design, and what’s even more amazing, the thick water contact front element is so strong that the lenses can be used at the greatest ocean depths, including the 36,200 feet deep Mariana Trench, with no problem at all.
What’s a Leica UW housing worth? How about 72,000 euros!
Here’s the Leitz Photographica Auction 22 listing for the last Leica UW sold back on November 24, 2012. Hammer price 72,000 euros including Buyer’s Premium. Your chances of finding another one: slim to none.
Starting Price €25,000
Estimate €50,000 – 60,000
serial number: 240-0044
Condition: A-
Manufacture Year: c.1970
LEITZ AUCTION
22
Leica UW Underwater Housing
extremely rare, red-painted underwater housing for the US Army, Elcan 90°/2.8, the device is in almost new condition, with the original Leitz Canada user manual, special Samsonite case marked 'KG-24 UNDERWATER 35mm FORMAT CAMERA LEICA UW F42600-80-C-0278'
We’re not sure why this example is described as “for the US Army” rather than the US Navy but all branches of the US military do underwater photography at times, and Leitz Photographica Auction is famously fastidious about its provenances.
Today there are dozens of third-party underwater housings that will accommodate most Leica models past and present. Depending on specs, construction, and maximum depth, they range in price from under $200 to well over $2,000. All of them will let you shoot underwater with a Leica but none of them qualify as an ultra-rare, super expensive, collector’s prize like those we’ve covered here.
Another enticing underwater alternative for Leica fans: the Leica X-U (Typ 113) digital camera, the only underwater camera ever offered by Leica. Designed in collaboration with Audi design and released in 2016 at a price of $2,950.00, this elegant 16.2MP APS-C-format camera has a 23mm f/1.7 Summilux ASPH. lens and is submersible to a depth of 49 feet—sufficient for most underwater applications other than deep sea diving. Regrettably it was discontinued in 2018 and Leica has not produced a replacement, The good news: you can acquire a clean, functional Leica X-U at the online auction sites for about $1,500.