Leica M2
Leica introduced the M2 in 1957 as a less expensive variant of the M3, which had become the tool of choice for many photojournalists and other professional photographers after its 1954 debut. In order to make the camera more affordable, Leica made a variety of internal and external changes to the M2. These included replacing the automatic film counter with a manually-reset disk beneath the advance lever, removing the beveled detailing around the viewfinder windows, and replacing the glass frameline illuminator window with a plastic fresnel. The most critical change was the replacement of the M3's 0.91x magnification viewfinder (which had 50, 90, and 135mm framelines) with a 0.72x magnification finder that featured 35, 50, and 90mm framelines. While this decrease in magnification reduced focus accuracy, it allowed for accurate framing of 35mm lenses without an external viewfinder, a huge advantage as 35mm lenses became more popular.
While initially conceived as a less expensive version of the M3, the M2 would actually become the basis for all successive Leica rangefinder cameras, which still use 0.72x magnification finders today. The M2 is the original Leica M for shooting with 35mm lenses and makes an excellent photographic companion.
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