Leica II (Model D)

Ernst Leitz · LTM mount · 24×36mm on perforated 35mm cine film, 36 exposures · 1932

Also known as: Leica II · Leica Model D · Leica D · Leitz Leica II · ライカII型

Variants & identification

Variant	Mount	Years	Serial ranges	Production
Black lacquer	LTM	1932–1936	—	36,936 cameras (Leica Wiki)
Chrome	LTM	1933–1948	—	15,573 cameras (Leica Wiki)
Gold plated	LTM	1932–1948	—	Four cameras (Leica Wiki)

An independent figure for the gold cameras: Leitz Photographica's catalogue states that "only four Luxus Leica model D with built-in rangefinder and interchangeable lenses were officially built," matching the Leica Wiki's four. The same lot note puts fewer than 100 gold-plated Leica cameras of any model completed between 1929 and 1933, and says that in 1930 a gold-plated Luxus with lizard-skin covering cost twice the price of a regular camera.
Price realised: the gold Luxus 'Leih-Camera', no. 34816 — delivered as a Model I on 4 March 1930, converted to II Mod. D Luxus in 1932, brown reptile covering in original condition, engraved "Leih-Camera (Loan Camera)" on the back, condition B- — made €156,000 including buyer's premium at Leitz Photographica Auction 32, lot 16, against a €140,000–160,000 estimate.
A price for an ordinary one, for scale: an export Leica II Mod. D in black and nickel, no. 88863 of 1932, engraved Germany on the accessory shoe and with its matching nickel Elmar 3.5/50mm no. 174033, condition A/B, made €2,880 including buyer's premium at Auction 36, lot 15, against a €1,000–1,200 estimate.

How to tell them apart (expand)

A coupled rangefinder with its own eyepiece, separate from the viewfinder — two windows to look through, not one
Rewind knob that pulls up to release the film
No slow speeds: the dial stops at 1/20

Black lacquer:

Black-lacquered brass top plate and base with nickel-plated knobs

Chrome:

Chrome-plated brass fittings; listed in the serial tables as Leica II Chrom

Gold plated:

Gold plating in place of nickel or chrome

Black lacquer: The first 29,801 cameras, serials 71200–101000, are one uninterrupted black block.
Chrome: Chrome arrives in 1933 and the two finishes run side by side, often within the same serial block — several are listed as Chrom (+black).
Gold plated: Four, against roughly thirty gold Model As and three gold Model Cs. Provenance is the only thing that makes such a camera worth more than a repaint.

Serial-range notes

71200–101000: A single block of 29,801 black cameras in 1932 — the largest unbroken run in the model.
101001–106000: Printed inside the Leica II serial list but marked as Standard (black). The two models were built together and the lists cross-reference rather than separate them.
105485, 188855, 206583: Singled out by the Leica Wiki as Leica II cameras despite falling in blocks its tables assign to other models.
106001–107600; 108701–109000; 111551–111580; 112001–112500; 114401–115300: 1933: 5 batches, 3,330 numbers (+black; black). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
107758–108650; 115651–115900; 139951–140000; 141851–141900; 142251–142350; 143426–143750; 144201–144400; 146201–146375; 146676–146775; 147076–147175; 147876–148025; 148851–148950: 1934: 12 batches, 2,493 numbers (+black; black). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
149451–149550: 1934-35: 1 batch, 100 numbers. Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
151226–151300; 153176–153225; 154151–154200; 157251–157400; 158351–158400; 160451–160700; 161151–161450; 164901–165000; 165101–165300; 168001–168200; 169351–169450; 169551–169650; 171301–171550; 172601–172800; 174401–174650; 179501–179575; 179801–179900; 180801–181000; 182701–182850; 183501–183600: 1935: 20 batches, 2,950 numbers (Standard). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
185351–185500; 187501–187650; 188601–188750; 188751–189300; 191201–191300; 191501–191650; 192801–192950; 194651–194851; 196401–196550; 199601–199800; 200501–200650; 202301–202450; 202801–202900; 204301–204500; 205401–205500; 205701–207300; 207301–207400; 209601–209900; 211801–211900; 213601–213700; 216301–216500; 218301–218700; 219601–219800: 1936: 23 batches, 5,651 numbers (chrom). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
217701–217900; 234001–234100: 1936-37: 2 batches, 300 numbers. Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
220301–220500; 222701–223000; 236501–236700; 249201–249400; 251201–251300; 251601–251800; 252001–252200; 254601–254800; 259501–259800; 263601–263900; 266501–266800: 1937: 11 batches, 2,500 numbers (black; black/chrom). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
241501–241700; 241901–242000; 243501–243800; 246501–246700; 247501–247600; 248301–248400: 1937-38: 6 batches, 1,000 numbers. Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
271001–271100; 271601–271700; 272301–272400; 275351–275650; 275676–275700; 277901–278100; 279201–279400; 287401–287600; 292001–292200; 293401–293500; 294601–294800; 296001–296200; 296901–297100; 300201–300300; 302501–302800; 303701–303800; 306301–306500; 308201–308300; 309501–309700: 1938: 19 batches, 3,125 numbers (Leica III). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
311001–311200; 314101–314300; 314501–314600; 315001–315100; 315401–315500; 316901–317000; 318201–318300; 318501–318800; 320001–320200; 320601–320700; 322001–322200; 324801–325000; 325901–326000; 327001–327200; 329401–329600; 330201–330300; 337001–337200; 337901–338100: 1939: 18 batches, 2,900 numbers (Chrom; black/chrom). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
341001–341300: 1939-40: 1 batch, 300 numbers. Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
351101–351150; 352001–352100; 352151–352300: 1940: 3 batches, 300 numbers (Chrom). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
352501–352900: 1940-42: 1 batch, 400 numbers (Chrom). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
354076–354100: 1947: 1 batch, 25 numbers (Chrom). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
354201–354400: 1942-44: 1 batch, 200 numbers (Chrom). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
356651–356700: 1947-48: 1 batch, 50 numbers (Chrom). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
358501–358650: 1948: 1 batch, 150 numbers (Chrom). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.

Specifications

Format: 24×36mm on perforated 35mm cine film, 36 exposures
Finder (main): Optical viewfinder · no rangefinder image
Finder (rangefinder): Coupled split-image rangefinder with a separate eyepiece
Shutter: focal plane, cloth · 1/20 – 1/500 and Z (time)
Designed by: Oskar Barnack — camera
Weight: 406 g
Dimensions: 133 × 67 × 33 mm
Country: Germany

Figures we worked out rather than found: 36,936 + 15,573 + 4 = 52,513 — a total no source prints · The 1932 black block alone, 71200–101000, is 29,801 cameras: more than half the model in its first year

Where sources disagree

Total production

52,513 cameras — 36,936 black, 15,573 chrome and 4 gold (Leica Wiki, summed)
No total is printed anywhere on the page

The three finish counts are given; the sum is not. Nothing consulted publishes a single figure for the model, and the serial list mixes in blocks belonging to the Standard.

What reviewers say

Albert Kampermann (Vintage Photo) (blog) — Ninety years on it is still a joy to use and a pleasure to hold — authentic, pure photography — and he keeps only two so that other people can experience owning a Barnack Leica. single source, unconfirmed

History

The Leica II is where focusing stops being guesswork. Everything before it — the Model A, the Compur, the Model C, the Standard that launched beside it — was focused by reading a scale and trusting your estimate of the distance, with an accessory rangefinder in the shoe if you cared enough to buy one. The II builds the rangefinder into the top plate and couples it to the lens, so the image splits and rejoins as the barrel turns. The camera still has two eyepieces: you focus through one, then move your eye to the other to frame. That arrangement lasted until the M3 of 1954 put both jobs in the same window.

Beyond the rangefinder it is the Standard, and the two were sold together as a pair of price points for eighteen and sixteen years respectively. Speeds run from 1/20 to 1/500 with no slow speeds — those arrive a year later on the III — and the rewind knob pulls up, an idea carried over from the Standard. Most of the model is black: 36,936 black bodies to 15,573 chrome, with chrome appearing in 1933 and the two finishes then running together, sometimes inside the same serial block. Four cameras were gold plated.

The counting here is better behaved than on the earlier models, though it stops short of an answer. The Leica Wiki gives the three finish counts and prints no total; they sum to 52,513, which is a figure this site is deriving rather than quoting. The serial list carries the same cross-contamination as the rest of the family — the 1932 block from 101001 to 106000 sits inside the Leica II table clearly marked as Standard, because the two models were built alongside each other and Leitz’s numbering did not care which was which. Three individual cameras are called out by serial as Leica IIs despite falling in blocks the tables assign elsewhere, which is the Leica Wiki being honest about how far a table can be trusted.

What the first year shows is how quickly the rangefinder mattered. Serials 71200 to 101000 are one unbroken run of 29,801 black cameras in 1932 alone — more than half of everything the model would ever be, built before the III existed to take its place at the top of the range.

Expand Collapse

This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.

Photographs

Leica II (Model D) — Leica II in black, serial 67777, 1931, with a nickel Elmar — Kameraprojekt Graz 2015, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $900 across 29 fixed-price listings on 2026-10-19 (middle half $350–$1,500). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 9 days: unchanged from $900.

By day

Date	Median	Middle half	Listings
2026-10-19	$900	$350–$1,500	29
2026-10-18	$900	$350–$1,500	29
2026-10-17	$900	$350–$1,500	30
2026-10-16	$840	$350–$1,500	29
2026-10-15	$840	$350–$1,500	30
2026-09-21	$900	$350–$1,800	32
2026-09-18	$1,000	$380–$1,800	37
2026-09-11	$900	$250–$1,600	32
2026-09-06	$900	$350–$1,600	34

Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.

Leica-II(D) Bismarck WWII Vintage Russian film 35mm Rangefinder Camera Body — $149.99 · eBay NEW
Leica-II(D) Bismarck WWII Vintage Russian 35 mm Rangefinder Camera Body — $149.99 · eBay NEW
Leica-II(D) Bismarck WWII Vintage Made in Russia 35mm Rangefinder Camera Body — $149.99 · eBay
Leica II, III (Barnack) Revision + SERVICE. -- NOT CAMERA! - — €140.00 · eBay
Leica II mit Elmar 3,5/ 50mm Russischer Kamera — €200.00 · eBay
Leica-II(D) Panzerkampf WWII Vintage Russian Gold Camera + Lens Elmar f3,5/5cm — $249.99 · eBay · likely gold NEW
Leica-II(D) Das Reich WWII Vintage Russian Camera w/ Lens Leitz Elmar EXCELLENT — $249.99 · eBay NEW
Leica-II(D) Panzerkampf WWII Vintage Russian Camera + Lens Leitz Elmar EXCELLENT — $249.99 · eBay NEW
Leica-II(D) Verwundeten Abzeichen 1939-1945 WW2 Vintage Russian Camera EXCELLENT — $249.99 · eBay NEW
Leica II chrome Kamera Camera Leitz 99688 — €275.00 · eBay · likely chrome
Leica II model D chrome camera (1937) with Leica 90/4 Elmar black/chrome lens (1935) Ex+ set — $349.00 · Classic Connection · likely chrome
Leica II 35mm Film Rangefinder Camera With Summar 50mm f2 Lens - Please Read — £299.00 · eBay
Leitz Leica II f body SHP 312141 — €369.00 · eBay
Leica II (D) Black Paint / Schwarz lackiert (1932) + Lederetui Filterhalter - überholt — €400.00 · eBay
Leica D-Lux 1 original Digital Camera 3.2MP 18236 — $499.00 · Cardinal Camera (Used)
Leica II 35mm Film Rangefinder Camera With Summar 50mm f2 Lens -1934 + handbook — £425.45 · eBay
Leica II model D 35mm Film Camera — $600.00 · eBay
Leica II model D 1932 Black / nickel + Soviet INDUSTAR- 22 3.5/50 Lens — £486.10 · eBay
Leica II F black dial Kamera Camera mit Elmar 50mm f2.8 Objektiv Leitz 95445 — €580.00 · eBay
Leitz Leica II / 50/3.5 Elmar 1934 black and nickel + black paint cap — £495.00 · eBay

Show 45 more listings

Leica II + Elmar 5cm f/3,5 Nickel ✅ WORKING, 1932, Leitz Wetzlar, Black Paint — €599.00 · eBay NEW
Leica II Silver Chrome — $675.00 · Tamarkin Camera · likely chrome
RARE [VINTAGE MINT] Leica D II Black Paint Nickel 1932 Camera S/N100230 JAPAN — $714.99 · eBay
Leitz Wetzlar - Leitz Leica II + Komura 3.5/35mm "seltene M39 Optik" - CLA 08/26 (LTM) — €699.00 · eBay
[Near MINT w/Case] Leica II Black Paint 35mm Rangefinder Film Camera From JAPAN — $779.99 · eBay
Leica II Mod D Black Nickel First Batch Kamera Camera Leitz 90344 — €720.00 · eBay
Leica II (Model D) D.R.P. 1932 Black with Nickel Leitz Elmar f3.5 50mm lens 1932 — £613.60 · eBay
RARE 1932 LEICA II (Model D) Black Paint & Nickel - Elmar 5cm - Serial 80217 — £644.20 · eBay
[MINT] Leica II Model D Rangefinder Camera Black Repainted/Elmar 5cm F3.5 JAPAN — $839.00 · eBay
Leica II Model D Black / Chrome (1937) camera Ex+/++ — $899.00 · Classic Connection · likely chrome
[Exc+5] Leica ii D Nickel Elmar 50mm f3.5 From JAPAN — $899.99 · eBay
Leica I conversion Umbau Leica II Kamera Elmar 50mm f3.5 lens Leitz 99155 — €845.00 · eBay
Leica II Gehäuse Body Black Messucherkamera — €890.00 · eBay
Leica II 1935 Elmar 5cm 3.5 Rote Belederung - Komplett CLA! Top! — €899.00 · eBay
Leica ii Black Elmar 50 Nickel — $995.00 · eBay
Leitz Wetzlar Leica II 2 black Nr. 106793 Kamera Elmar 1:3,5 50mm Objektiv — €950.00 · eBay
Leica II Black 1932 - serviced September 20226 — DKK 7,000.00 · One Of Many Cameras
Leica II mod d 1934 + Leitz Elmar 50mm f/3.5 144187 — €1,000.00 · eBay
Leitz Leica II Mod. D Black RARE 11 o'clock Nickel Elmar 3.5/50 mm lens and case — $1,200.00 · eBay
1932 Black & Nickel Leica II with Nickel Elmar 5cm f3.5 — £924.70 · eBay
Leica II black w. chrome furniture Leitz Elmar 3.5/5cm full working — £943.51 · eBay · likely chrome
Leica II black with Elmar 5cm lens ca.1933 Y. in clean working condition — €1,199.00 · eBay
Leica II Black Lacquer 1932 #99584 + Elmar 50mm – Exc – Original Case – Japan We — $1,477.00 · eBay · likely black
Leitz Leica II Mod. D Black/Chrome w. Elmar 3.5/50mm Camera — $1,528.44 · eBay · likely chrome
Leitz Leica II Mod. D Black/Nickel With Elmar 3.5/50Mm — $1,528.44 · eBay
Leica II black with Elmar 5cm lens ca.1933 Y. in clean working condition — $1,535.20 · eBay
Leica II CONVERSION IIIA SYN + 50MM F3.5 ELMAR AIROO #5799 — €1,425.00 · eBay
Leica I (A) to Leica II conversion #34968, c.1930, black, nickel Elmar 5cm/3.5, cap, booklet, CLA'd 2024, Ex+ — $1,595.00 · Igor Camera Exchange
Vintage 1932 Leica II Black Rangefinder Camera 81709 & Hektor f2.5/5cm lens — A$2,499.00 · eBay
Leica II Black Paint / NICKEL + LEITZ Nickel Elmar 1:3,5 f=5cm both made in 1932 — £1,297.00 · eBay
Leica II Black Paint 1930,s No.123573 + Leitz Summar 5cm f/2 great optics — £1,299.99 · eBay
Leica II D 35mm Black Rangefinder Camera W/ Hektor 5CM F2.5 Lens & ETRIN Case — £1,299.99 · eBay
Leitz Leica II BLACK 35mm RF camera w. Summar 2/5cm lens matching case — €1,599.00 · eBay
Leica 5cm f1,5 Summarit TAYLOR, TAYLOR HOBSON Rare lens with Leica II (D) black paint camera Ex+ — $1,799.00 · Classic Connection
Leica I(A) Nr.34921 converted to Leica II black chrome with Leica 50mm 90mm lenses nice Ex++ set. / Free shipping — $1,799.00 · Classic Connection · likely chrome
Leica II camera black body with Elmar 3.5/50mm Nickel full working Screw Mount — £1,415.74 · eBay
Leica D-Lux 8 Digital Camera (Metal Gray) Cat #19213 New USA / Free Shipping (USA) — $1,915.00 · Classic Connection NEW
Leica D-Lux 8 Digital New USA Camera Cat #19191 With 24-75mm Full-Frame Equivalent lens / Free shipping / In stock — $1,915.00 · Classic Connection
Leica D-Lux 8 Digital New USA Camera Cat #19191 W/24-75mm Full-Frame Equivalent lens Leica D-Lux 8 Handgrip Black Cat #19687 New / Free shipping — $2,095.00 · Classic Connection
Leica II black 1943 mit Stereoly Vorsatz - CLA 08/26! Toller Zustand — €1,999.00 · eBay
Usato Leica II — €2,000.00 · Sabatini Fotografia
Leica I (A) to Leica II conversion #4085, c.1927, black, nickel Elmar 5cm/3.5 #151505, CLA'd 2026, Ex+ — $2,595.00 · Igor Camera Exchange
Leica II black 35mm rangefinder camera. Circa 1935. Sells AS-IS ! — $595.00 · eBay junk / for parts
LEICA LEICA II型レンジファインダーカメラ中古T11735601 — from ¥28,600 · Yahoo! Auctions Japan · auction 2026-10-25
LEICA ライカ II型（DII）、ライカ III型（DIII）用　シャッターリング　社外品 — from ¥800 · Yahoo! Auctions Japan · auction 2026-10-25

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Listings updated 2026-10-19. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.