The Leica R7 was the last in the line of electromechanical SLR cameras descending from the German-Japanese collaboration that produced the Leica R3 in 1977. That camera, which shared much of its DNA with the Minolta XE (released in 1974 as the XE-1 in Europe and the XE-7 in North America), was the lighter, smaller, and less-expensive-to-manufacture successor to the famously over-engineered and unprofitable Leicaflex SL2 that was produced by Leitz from 1974 to 1976. The partnership between Leitz and Minolta culminated in the release of the R7 in 1992, twenty years after the two companies had signed an agreement of technical cooperation. In 1996, the R7 was succeeded by the R8, which was designed exclusively by Leica and was a radical break from the R3–R7 line.
leica r7
Views of and from the Vancouver Convention Centre /
Leica R7, 28 mm f/2.8 Elmarit, Fomapan 100, Kodak D76.
Vancouver Skylines /
Leica R7, 28 mm f/2.8 Elmarit, Fomapan 100, Kodak D76.
Experiments in Macro Photography on De Courcy Island /
Leica R7, 60 mm f/2.8 Macro-Elmarit, Fomapan 100, Kodak D76.
