If you're a Leica fan and you are always looking at the best Leica cameras or wanting to upgrade to the best Leica M-lenses or best Leica SL lenses then 2023 just might be your year!
It has been rumored via Leica Rumors that the German camera and lens maker will announce 5 new products in 2023. But what is even more surprising is that out of those five new products, four could be brand new cameras from Leica - which is somewhat unheard of from the legendary camera manufacturer.
What could we see from Leica in 2023?
Leica M11 Monochrom
The Leica M10 Monochrom has been marked as discontinued via B&H since December 2022, which would imply that a new model is on the way.
The Leica M11 features a new 60MP to its rangefinder system, which was launched on January 13, 2022 - this makes it a year old already, the perfect time for Leica to iron out a few bugs that have arisen from early adopter and releases the new M11 Monochrom.
According to Leica Rumors we could see the Leica M11 Monchrom be "announced this year (in the next few months)."
We also saw with the latest rumors from Leica Q3 leaks that the M11 Monochrom has the codename 'Rene' - this appearing at the same time, in the same line of code with the Leica Q3 suggests that these two cameras might be released at the same time, but certainly indicated that they are already in the wild being tested.
Leica Q3
A new leak had made its way into the world relating to the new Leica Q3 camera, announced and spotted by Digicame-info it confirmed that within a Leica FOTOS App update, data was sourced to show two code names, Leica Wilson (Q3) and Leica Rene (M11 Monochrom).
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Within this leak pictured below it is clear that the code name "Wilson" is referring to the expected Leica Q3. We have also heard from Mr Stefan Daniel, Executive VP Tech and Ops at Leica AG in a interview in 2022 confirming that Leica is working on a Q3 stating:
"Yes, there will be a Q3, for sure we will not stop here as the Q line-up has become a part of Leica's product portfolio, but it is not for this year".
With these rumors, it is also expected that the Q3 would be equipped with a 60MP sensor. This would make sense seeing as Leica already has access to a 60MP sensor, which is already in the flagship M camera, the Leica M11.
Previous allusions to the new camera included a leaked image of a Leica Q model seen on the Leica Fotos app, when it was updated to support the Leica M11. However, the image of the Leica Q was not that of the original Leica Q or the Leica Q2, but apparently the Leica Q3.
Leica Q-E
A relatively new rumor that has come via Leica Rumors is that Leica will reintroduce the “-E” branding for entry-level cameras and in turn will launch a 'new' Leica Q-E which will take the current Q2 and re-launch it as a lower price point than the Leica Q3 -Leica does have a history of doing this, just like the company did with the Leica M9 and Leica M-E back in 2012.
Apart from this mention that is all we have to go on currently however, this rumor does have a bit of logic behind it. The Leica M10-R is still on sale with its 40MP sensor making it the more affordable option to the Leica M11, currently, there is no cheap alternative to the Leica Q2, but with you were to introduce the Leica Q3 with a 60MP sensor, then a re-badged Leica Q2 in the forms of a Leica Q-E with 40MP makes a lot of sense how much sense to Leica owners and enthusiasts is yet to be seen.
Leica SL3
Another rumor to reach the eye of Leica owners and potential buyers is the rumor that Leica will announce a new model to its SL lineup, this will be a new flagship camera for the SL models and could be named the Leica SL3.
It is believed by Leica Rumors that this new camera will be released later this year, but will have a different megapixel resolution when compared to the rumored Leica Q3. If this is correct then we could see the Leica SL go with a new 50-megapixel sensor that is built for photography and superior filmmaking, which would bring it in line with current offerings from other mirrorless camera manufacturers.
During the Leica Keynote about the new Leica M11 rangefinder, eagle-eyed viewers spotted the Leica roadmap behind Leica head designer Mark Shipard which clearly shows the Leica Q and SL models were due for an upgrade within 2023.
New Leica 90mm f/2.0 APO-Summicron-M ASPH.
Finally, the last of the current Leica rumors suggest that the next lens in the Leica M-lenses to get an update is the Leica 90mm f/2.0 APO-Summicron-M ASPH. What this new version of this renowned lens will look like is not yet known or if this rumor might be related to a limited edition version of it like the Leica 35mm matte black.
However, this is the longest lens that you can manually focus within all Leica rangefinder cameras without the need for live view or using an EVF, it makes sense to update this lens for future use. Rumors suggest we will see a new rendition of this historic lens in the summer.
If this article has been interesting you might want to look at our Leica reviews of the current M flagship, Leica M11, take a look at our Leica Q2 Reporter review or see what you thought of the Leica SL2 or SL2-S mirrorless systems.
