The Leica I 35mm Turned 100

credits: Leica AG

100 years ago, on March 1, 1925, Leica unveiled the Leica I at the Leipzig Spring Fair, forever changing photography. It was the first mass-produced 35mm Leica camera, a refined version of Oskar Barnack’s Ur-Leica, and it quickly became a runaway success.

Ernst Leitz II made the bold call to mass-produce the compact 35mm camera, despite economic uncertainty, and it paid off. Paired with a 50mm f/3.5 Leica Anastigmat lens, the Leica I popularized the 24x36mm film format, a standard that still defines photography today.

Photographers like Rodchenko, Freund, and Kertész embraced it, capturing real life in ways never seen before. Leica sold 1,000 units in its first year, paving the way for innovations like the Leica II in 1932, which introduced the first rangefinder. A century later, Leica remains a powerhouse, shaping both the technology and culture of photography.