Leica R4–R7

Following commercial success of the Minolta based Leica R3, in 1980 the R4 was introduced. Based on the Minolta XD-7 but with Leica developed mirror box and metering and new body design. The same body & chassis was used for all refex models through to the R7.

R4 / R4s / R4s MOD II

The first Leica reflex camera where all models could take a winder or motor drive, the original name R4 MOT Electronic was changed following complaints that this implied a built in motor and subsequently the camera was known simply as R4.

Also for the first time the camera offered both selective and integrated metering as well as multiple exposure modes (note: this was selective rather than spot metering and Leica always referred to it as selective).

Viewfinder

Typically comprehensive viewfinder display included:

• Exposure / metering mode
• Selected aperture (small optical window)
• (m & T modes) Selected shutter speed
• (m, AE, & P modes) Range of shutter speeds with LED indicating metered setting
• (T mode) Range of apertures with LED indicating metered setting
• Over / under exposure
• Exposure compensation set (flashing)
• Flash ready (steady, using the exposure compensation indicator)

Focussing screens were interchangable all with a central 7mm ring indicating the selective metering area.

Exposure & metering modes

The camera offered a preset range of metering & exposure modes:

• m - Manual, selective exposure
• a - Aperture priority semi automatic, selective exposure with exposure lock
• A - Aperture priority semi automatic, integrated exposure
• P - Program fully automatic, integrated exposure
• T - Shutter priority semi automatic, integrated exposure

R4s / R4s MOD II

The R4s was a lower priced model with reduced features, lacking P & T modes