Leica Standard (Model E)

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

Also known as: Leica Standard · Leica Model E · Leica E · Leitz Standard · ライカスタンダード

Variants & identification

Variant	Mount	Years	Serial ranges	Production
Black lacquer	LTM	1932–1936	—	13,545 cameras (Leica Wiki)
Chrome	LTM	1933–1950	—	13,680 cameras (Leica Wiki)
Late bodies on the type III casting	LTM	1936–1950	—	No separate figure published

How to tell them apart (expand)

A viewfinder set into the top plate and no rangefinder — the last Leitz body built that way
Rewind knob that pulls up, where the Model C's does not
Interchangeable 39mm screw mount, standardised throughout the run

Black lacquer:

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

Chrome:

Chrome-plated fittings; the serial lists call these batches Standard Chrom

Late bodies on the type III casting:

Strap lugs, which the earlier Standard does not have
A plug on the front where a III's slow-speed dial would sit

Black lacquer: The finish the model launched in, and the one the early serial blocks are listed under.
Chrome: Chrome appears in the lists from 1933 and comes to dominate. The last cameras are post-war, more than a decade after the type had been superseded in every other respect.
Late bodies on the type III casting: Leitz stopped making a Standard-specific body and began finishing III castings as Standards. The plug is the tell: an unused hole, blanked off, where the slow speeds would have been.

Serial-range notes

101001–106000: The Leica Wiki's serial list prints this 1932 block twice, once as Standard (black) and once as Standard. The duplication runs through the first ten rows of the table.
1934–1936 blocks labelled Leica I: Much of the Standard's production is listed under the name Leica I rather than Standard. Leitz sold the Standard as a Leica I in some markets and the lists follow the paperwork, not the model.
114001–114050; 114001–114050: 1933: 2 batches, 100 numbers. Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
115901–116000; 123001–123580; 137401–137625; 138701–138950; 139901–139950; 141501–141850; 147001–147075; 115901–116000; 123001–123580; 137401–137625; 138701–138950; 139901–139950; 141501–141850; 145601–145800; 147001–147075; 147176–147875: 1934: 16 batches, 4,160 numbers (black). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
152501–152600; 154801–154900; 163951–164150; 171551–171900: 1935: 4 batches, 750 numbers (black). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
188301–188600; 193201–193450; 201601–201700; 203301–203400; 210401–210900; 212401–212700; 213301–213600: 1936: 7 batches, 1,850 numbers (black; chrom; chrom + black). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
233501–233700: 1936-1937: 1 batch, 200 numbers (chrom). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
239801–240000; 257601–257800: 1937: 2 batches, 400 numbers (Chrom; chrom). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
244201–244400; 248401–248600: 1937-1938: 2 batches, 400 numbers (black; chrom). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
271101–271600; 277505–277900; 278601–278800; 291001–291200; 291801–292000; 300301–300400; 308301–308500: 1938: 7 batches, 1,796 numbers (black; chrom). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
349051–349300; 352101–352150: 1940: 2 batches, 300 numbers (chrom). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
352901–353600: 1940-1942: 1 batch, 700 numbers (chrom). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
353801–354000: 1942-1947: 1 batch, 200 numbers (chrom). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
355001–355650: 1947-1948: 1 batch, 650 numbers (NY-chrom). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.

Specifications

Format: 24×36mm on perforated 35mm cine film, 36 exposures
Finder: Optical viewfinder set in the top plate, no rangefinder · no rangefinder image
Shutter: focal plane, cloth · 1/20 – 1/500 and Z (time)
Designed by: Oskar Barnack — camera
Weight: 368 g
Dimensions: 133 × 67 × 33 mm
Country: Germany

Figures we worked out rather than found: 13,545 + 13,680 = 27,225 — the two finishes sum to a total neither source prints · 27,225 + 12,229 = 39,454, the serial figure the Leica Wiki's editor is comparing against

Where sources disagree

Total production

27,225 cameras — 13,545 black plus 13,680 chrome (Leica Wiki)
39,454, being the assigned serial numbers on the same page — the Leica Wiki's own editor notes the production figure is 12,229 lower

Better supported: Neither, until the serial list is deduplicated

The gap is real but the larger number cannot be trusted as it stands: the list repeats its first ten blocks verbatim, and labels many others Leica I. Any total drawn from it counts some cameras twice and may count others that are not Standards at all.

Last year of production

1948 (camera-wiki's screw-mount overview)
1950 (Leica Wiki)

Both are plausible for a model whose late production was assembled from parts as orders came in rather than built as a run.

What reviewers say

Hamish Gill (35mmc), serial 101777 (blog) — "It's one of those cameras that suits me so well, it has that rare ability to completely disappear": a 1932 body that takes a modern screw-mount lens and a modern cassette because Leitz standardised the mount here. The early build has give in the dials, and curtains can run unevenly, darkening the right edge.

History

The Standard is the Leica that did not get the rangefinder. It arrived in 1932 in the same week as the Leica II and is the same camera minus the thing everyone remembers the II for: a viewfinder set in the top plate, a scale on the lens, and a price low enough to matter in 1932. Leitz kept it in the catalogue for eighteen years, which is longer than any other screw Leica, and sold the last of them after the war to people buying a body for a purpose rather than a camera for photography.

Physically it is the Model C brought up to date. The mount is standardised from the start, so any 39mm lens fits; the rewind knob pulls up rather than sitting flush, which is the quickest way to tell a Standard from a Model C at arm’s length. Later bodies are stranger. At some point Leitz stopped casting a Standard-specific body and began finishing type III castings instead, so late examples carry strap lugs the early ones lack and a blanked-off plug on the front where a III’s slow-speed dial would have been fitted. The camera is, literally, a III with the slow speeds left out and the hole filled in.

Counting them is where this entry has to be careful. The Leica Wiki gives 13,545 black bodies and 13,680 chrome, which sums to 27,225 — a total the page itself does not print. Directly beneath, its editor notes that the serial numbers assigned come to 12,229 more than the production figure, implying 39,454. But that serial list cannot carry the weight: its first ten blocks appear twice, verbatim, and a great many of its rows are labelled Leica I rather than Standard, because Leitz sold the camera under both names and the ledgers follow the paperwork. A total drawn from that list counts some cameras twice and may count others that were never Standards.

What is not in doubt is the shape of the thing: the last Leitz body designed without a rangefinder, and the end of the line that started with the Model A. Nothing else in the screw range does without one until the Ic of 1949, which does without a viewfinder as well.

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 Standard (Model E), chrome, serial 244297, 1937 — Kameraprojekt Graz 2015, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $900 across 10 fixed-price listings on 2026-10-19 (middle half $780–$1,200). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 9 days: down 10% from $1,000.

By day

Date	Median	Middle half	Listings
2026-10-19	$900	$780–$1,200	10
2026-10-18	$1,000	$780–$1,200	11
2026-10-17	$1,000	$780–$1,200	11
2026-10-16	$900	$780–$1,200	9
2026-10-15	$900	$780–$1,200	9
2026-09-21	$1,000	$630–$1,200	13
2026-09-18	$800	$500–$1,100	15
2026-09-11	$760	$500–$1,200	13
2026-09-06	$1,000	$630–$1,200	12

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

LEICA Standard mit Elmar 50mm f/3,5 - SNr: 101357 — €359.00 · eBay NEW
Leica Standard camera, Black camera body, serial number 244551 — £311.66 · eBay
Leica Standard silber chrome Kamera Camera Leitz 99189 — €525.00 · eBay · likely chrome
Leica I (A) to Leica Standard conversion #171810, c.1935, black, Leica booklet, CLA'd 2024, Ex- — $625.00 · Igor Camera Exchange
Leitz Leica Standard Elmar 5cm/3,5 chrome SHP 311127 — €589.00 · eBay · likely chrome
LEICA STANDARD von 1936 - ELMAR OPTIK 5 CM F. 3,5 - sehr guter Zustand — €600.00 · eBay
Appareil photo Leica Standard Model E #278607 Boitier seul avec étui. Circa 1938 — €600.00 · eBay
Rare! [VINTAGE MINT] Leitz Leica Standard Black 35mm Film Camera Body From JAPAN — $713.99 · eBay
Leica Standard 1936 — €650.00 · Camera Obscura Elburg
1939 Leica Standard Model E 35mm Camera 314359 Elmar 5cm f3.5 Finder (NJL025816) — $775.00 · eBay
1936 Leica Standard Outfit — £675.00 · The Latent Image
Leica Standard schwarz Nickel #191746 von 1936 mit Leitz Elmar 3,5/5cm Nickel — €799.00 · eBay
Leica Standard 1937/38 Nr. 244836 – Ernst Leitz Wetzlar – Elmar 3,5/50 — €799.00 · eBay
1937 Leica Standard Model E Black Paint Chrome Leitz Elmar 50mm f/3.5 #259870 — $899.99 · eBay · likely chrome
1938 Leica Standard Model E Camera with Elmar 50mm Lens — $899.99 · eBay
Leica Standard (Modell E) mit Leitz Elmar 5cm f/3.5 Schraubleica M39 - 66850 (LTM) — €850.00 · eBay
Leitz Leica Standard 35mm viewfinder camera chrome w. Elmar 3,5/5cm lens — €899.00 · eBay · likely chrome
Leitz / Leica Standard mit Elmar 3,5 / 5cm Objektiv 145626 — €899.99 · eBay
Black Paint [Near MINT] Leica Standard Body + Elmar 50mm 3.5 Lens From JAPAN — $999.99 · eBay
Leitz Wetzlar Leica Standard Nr.101472 Baujahr 1932 mit Nickel Elmar 50 — €998.00 · eBay

Show 7 more listings

Leica Standard (E) black paint camera (circa 1938) with chrome knobs Leica 50/3,5 Elmar lens Ex++ Set / Free shipping (USA) — $1,199.00 · Classic Connection · likely chrome
Leica Standard I Model A 5 Digit SN 5cm f3.5 Elmar — $1,249.00 · eBay
Leica Standard I Model A 5 Digit SN 5cm f3.5 Elmar — $1,249.00 · Cardinal Camera (Used)
Leica Standard Modell E (1932/33) Black Paint Vintage Kamera - No 104748 — €1,300.00 · eBay
Leica Standard I Model A 5 Digit SN 5cm f3.5 Elmar — $1,499.00 · Cardinal Camera (Used)
Leica Standard Typ E 1936 schwarz Leitz Elmar 5cm f/3.5 *Near Mint* - 67354 — €1,750.00 · eBay NEW
【並品】LEICA ライカ Standard スタンダード E型 Lマウント L39 フィルムカメラ #LE2027548 — from ¥98,000 · Yahoo! Auctions Japan · auction 2026-10-25

Buying from Yahoo! Auctions outside Japan. It is a domestic marketplace: sellers ship within Japan, and most will not register an overseas buyer. A proxy service bids on your behalf, receives the item and forwards it, for a fee and a wait. Buyee, Jauce and ZenMarket each accept a Yahoo auction number directly. Listed alphabetically for information — none is recommended over another, and none of these is an affiliate link.

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