SUB13 make some of the only underwater housings for Leica cameras, and it recently announced the release of the world’s first housing for the Leica M.
Leica announced the revival of the M6 film camera in 2022, 20 years after production stopped, to mark 70 years of Leica M.
SUB13 is the brainchild of artist Matt Draper – a personal project seven years in the making, driven by Draper’s desire and commitment to fuse Leica’s manual focus rangefinder with his fine art printing – eventually creating this fully functioning underwater housing.
The company, which includes engineer Matt Hipsley, has previously made underwater housings for the Leica M series rangefinders and the Q3,
Draper told DCW: “Each unit features a fully functional film advance lever machined from solid titanium, hand-polished, and finished in bronze PVD coating. The detailed internal actuator is set behind a curved viewing window sculpted from sapphire glass, allowing owners to observe the complete motion of their film advance.
“The housing’s lever precisely mirrors the radius of the viewing window below, seamlessly blending form and function. Over a year of dedicated design, engineering, and prototyping preceded the final machining to achieve their exacting standards.”
While the front port has been machined as part of the main body, it has been carefully designed and engineered to accommodate eight different M lenses, ranging from 28mm to 50mm.
The beautiful piece of kit is independently certified to maximum recreational scuba depths of 130 feet (40 meters), and is compatible with the M6, M6 TTL, and the M7.
SUB13 only made 13 units of the housing, which sold for $7,495, including a special model for the Leica Store Bellevue with a laser engraved, paint-filled detail of a killer whale to celebrate the state's iconic marine mammal.
They’re now all sold out with no plans to make any more.
Leica Fotografie International Magazine said: “Distinguished by an exquisite design and premium quality materials in order to echo the ethos of the Leica brand.”
Inspired? Why not take a look at out guides to the best underwater housings for cameras and phones, the best Leica cameras, and the best waterproof cameras.
