The Evolution of the Leica R8/R9 to the Leica S
by DAVID KNOBLE
Evolution implies moving forward, but my journey was the reverse - I used the Leica S system for several years prior to using the Leica R system. Being a Leica M fanatic for not quite 20 years, the R system always seemed too big to consider. It’s ironic, then, that I even considered the Leica S (Typ 007) four years ago, but the Leica S system is a medium format system and had incredible dynamic range. For a landscape photographer, those specs are quite a draw and I was quickly hooked.
After four years of mounting large glass Leica S lenses on the large S007 body and mounting it on a Series 3 Gitzo tripod, the R system no longer looked so large or heavy. I found an R8 that was in incredible shape and had a fresh CLA (Thank you Josh at the Leica Store Miami). I already had a small collection of R lenses that I used on the SL system with the R-Adapter-L: the APO-Elmarit 180mm f/2.8, the APO-Elmarit 280mm f/2.8 and the APO-Vario-Elmarit 70mm-180mm f/2.8. Adding a Summicron R 50mm f/2 and an Elmarit R 90mm f/2.8 to my inventory gave me the opportunity to see what the Leica R system was all about. What I found were incredibly interesting similarities to the Leica S007 and soon I began hunting lenses adding a few more primes and two more zooms, including the Macro Elmarit R 60mm f/2.8 which was used to take all of the images here.
At first glance it seems rather improbable comparing a 35mm film camera to a medium format digital camera. Ignoring the digital DMR back that converted the Leica R8 or R9 to a digital camera, what seems to be the evolutionary process from the R to the S? From a user’s perspective, more than just a replacement line as the R system was removed from the Leica catalogs.
Arguably, except for the Visoflex system from the 1950’s that adapts the rangefinder system to a quasi SLR system, the Leica R and the Leica S are the only SLR systems in the Leica lineup. I’m including the Leicaflex and SL film systems in the R category because of the direct lineage and the shared lens mounts. With the design changes from the R6 and R7 bodies that created a large behemoth called the R8, the musing of the Leica S body seems to have begun.
According to the late Erwin Puts, the Leica R8 was created by an entirely new design team as the previous design team of the R series was dismantled (https://photo.imx.nl/styled-10/camera/camera/page46.html) . Why is that relevant? Beginning with the R3 (there is no R2 or R1), the camera technology was shared and adapted from Minolta bodies of the same era. Some people flinch when there is another camera brand connected to a Leica camera product, but there has been a long line of Leica technology shares. The perspective control lenses of the Leica R system and the Leica S system were outside technology. Several Leica R zooms were made either with outside designs or outside lens computations, but this camera system was different and Leica maintained control of some of the programming in the automatic modes. I’ll save that discussion for a future article.
The R8, the first in a new concept from the ground up, had two design requirements: 1.) stay with the Leica tradition and 2.) simplify the design process. Leica tradition in the M series included a flat, smooth top cover with controls that did not protrude over the top but provided intuitive use for manual exposures. In the R8, Leica designed the smoother top case with flush manual controls compared to the square bodies of the Leica 6.2 and prior where the shutter dial and rewind cranks were noticeable knobs. The R8 is sleek and the controls are few on top but efficiently placed and cannot easily be seen from the front profile.
Assembly was a different challenge. Puts indicated the R8 had over 800 mechanical parts and 400 electronic parts. Each part was new, causing design and outsourcing requirements to be formalized and new quality control procedures were necessary. Clearly looking at the R8 body one would not think it so full of pieces. The controls are smooth and feel solid. The R8 was also the heaviest SLR made by Leica at 890 grams (The R7 was 670 grams) using steel for the bottom plate. Part of the thinking behind the weight went along with some new Leica R zoom lenses under development with high weights and balance is important in the entire system. As with many Leica cameras, reliable use in the field is a trademark (Leica MP film cameras can have the lubrication replaced to operate in Arctic temperatures, for example). While steel was used in the baseplate of the R8, it is also sprayed with a covering. Jonathan Eastland tells us in his book, R8, that the covering of the baseplate is a glass reinforced plastic.
During development, another Leica first was performing stress analysis on the design using computers. The results of this kind of testing, Puts tells us, is the refinement of gear systems and other components that lower the noise. This is due to the tight tolerances and provides a camera system that still works at that spec level today. It is reported that over 80 engineers spent 6 years on this stress testing before final production. Parts for the R8 were made all over, but controlled by Leica. For example, the multi-meter mode was a Japanese design, but the algorithms that determine the resulting exposure were controlled by Leica. This allows Leica to retain control of results and let them tune the exposure for what they believe is best. Ironically, there are 20 controls on the outside of the R8 but when I glance at it I see about 5 and they are the most important.
The R9, the last of the iconic R lineage, many have called the R8.2 because so few changes were made. However, true to Leica, the changes were smaller details that made an impact on the user experience. Besides the most obvious weight reduction through the use of magnesium and aluminum replacing steel, the on/off switch that controls the exposure mode now had a lock button. This prevented accidental changing in the camera bag and during use. I would occasionally pick up my R8 and find it had been turned on, so that became a welcome addition for me. The metering modes were updated in the software, like tuning a CMOS sensor with a Maestro chip today. In fact, Eastland indicated the Mitsubishi CPU in the R8 had 60k of ROM holding the 50k software which presumably got updated in the R9. Finally, the shutter could be held half-pressed in more exposure modes to save the metered exposure while re-composing the image. I have no doubt that an R10 would have had more improvements.
Using the R8 and R9, my hands no longer held a camera body, 32 VIEWFINDER · VOLUME 55, ISSUE 1 they wrapped themselves around the camera body. No longer were my fingertips the only contact, but my entire hand encased the body. The same experience is had when holding the S007. The more I used these R bodies, the more I grew to like the sleek rounded top. Lenses mount on sturdy bayonets and click into place much like the S007 lenses. The selection of exposure modes is easily done with the off switch. Shutter speed and metering mode are on the same dial and fingertip controllable. The back of the R8 has an LCD display with the film speed and exposure number. Similarly, looking at the back of the S007, the four button menu system on the camera back remains simple and without wasted space and without clutter. The S007 has a simple dial on top that is used to change exposure modes and change the shutter speed all confirmed with a simple small display.
The focusing screens are also incredibly similar. Many other 35mm SLR brands used changeable viewfinders and the focusing screens were thick glass with metal frames that dropped into the camera above the mirror. My Nikon F2 works like this as does the Canon F-1. However, the Leica R8 has a latch on the inside and a hinged frame drops down where tweezers find their way to remove the tabbed screen and drop a thin one in its place. Latching the focusing screen door back to the top of the inner chamber, the swap is complete. The S007 focusing screens change in exactly the same manner, albeit the screens are larger. I quickly found that I liked the full micro prism screen in the R8, the same as I do in the S007.
True to Leica form, the R8 does not have too many controls. The EV adjustment is a simple lever beside the eyepiece, and the front contains a depth of field lever and a switch to hold the mirror up for long exposures to avoid camera shake. The flash timing is adjusted with a switch and the exposure metering mode is a locked selector, but otherwise there is a simple shutter speed dial and a program mode dial. Digital cameras do not normally mix double exposures in camera, but the R8 does have a switch to allow that in film. One could easily argue that the SL and M digital cameras also keep controls to a minimum, but the body style with the controls sleekly embedded is most reminiscent of the S007.
The most interesting similarity is the one that made me think about this entire comparison. I have used a variety of film cameras including the Nikon F2, the Canon A1, the Leica M3, M2R, M4, M6, M6-ttl, MA and MP. Clearly the Leica M bodies are rangefinders and the shutter system is simple and very different from an SLR like the Nikon and Canon. However, the R8 has the quietest, quickest, and least vibrating shutter system of any SLR I have ever used. The mirror flip is undetectable and the sound is eerily like that of the S007 without the short whirl to re-cock the shutter. I am utterly convinced that the mirror flip and shutter system in the Leica S came from ideas out of the Leica R8 and R9. There is no miracle here, and the rangefinder shutter contains a lot less vibration allowing for very slow handholding. Based on my experience with the S007, a small movement during exposure causes pixel movement and blur the image. After using a tripod for many slow exposures, I am sensitive to the R8 and any movement.
If the idea still leaves some convincing, consider the lenses of the Leica R system. In no other system from Leica have the lenses needed to be corrected to look through before an image was taken. Lenses in the Leica R stable typically have very low distortion and f/stops ranging from 1.4 to 2.8, letting in plenty of light to manually focus well. The Leica S system adopted the same approach and the lenses have f/stops typically in the 2.4 to 2.8 range. Focusing through the S007 is an incredible experience and the same is true of the Leica R8. Th e viewfinder is very bright, easy to focus, and what you see is what you get. If you have never experienced a really bright viewfinder through incredible glass lenses, it is certainly worth a chance to look.
Leica R lenses come in a wide variety of image quality. Some have design roots in conjunction with Minolta and other Japanese manufacturers. Some have been designed solely by Germany. A few less expensive lenses that provide high quality images include the Summicron R 50mm f/2.0 version 2 and the Elmarit R 90mm f/2.8 version 2. Both are very similar or identical to the M lenses of the same types and are available used for under $1,000 US. There are more expensive lenses that have not jumped to cult status, but are still so relevant that Leica SL and SL2 users have adapted them to digital workflows. This includes the Vario APO Elmarit R 70-180mm f/2.8 which I use on both the SL2 and the R8. Also unique to any of the Leica systems are the 1.4x APO extender and 2.0x APO extender. I use both of these with the APO Telyt R 280mm f/2.8 to effectively have up to a 560mm f/5.6 APO lens. Of course, the longer focal lengths in the R lenses require better technique and the use of tripods to get the most detail that the lenses offer. However, after doing this consistently with the S007, adapting it to the R8 was no problem.
Even from film to digital, there are so many concepts that found their way into the Leica S system from the R system, the evolution was clearly intentional. After several decades of improving the SLR film system, the best pieces were used to build a digital SLR system. The body style has been almost exactly the same in the Leica S system, proving the R8 and R9 were great advances in the body design. In addition, my work with the Leica S007 has provided me with some mental tools enabling me to get the most out of the Leica R8.And so, my journey is still in progress as I enjoy the results of great lenses and 35mm film, with a camera that causes me to be deliberate and take my time for producing an image.
In a future article I’ll discuss a variety of the R lenses and their use on both the R film bodies and the more modern SL-2. While the lenses are not weatherproof like the current L mount lenses, they still retain the character from when they were produced and can provide great imagery.