Description
Introduced in 1984, the Leica M6 is one of the classics from the Leica range and is a milestone in the development of the Leica M system. The camera enjoys an almost as legendary reputation as the Leica M3 and was produced continuously from 1984 to 1998.
The silver chromed camera bodies with black elements, commonly referred to as M6 "Panda", appeared for the first time around 1991 and was available until 1994.
It is no longer possible to understand why, in addition to the normal silver chrome-plated versions with silver controls, some black controls were also installed during this period.
Some authors assume a shortage of silver chrome-plated components, although it seems questionable that this would extend over three years. Others suspect a consciously built variant of the classic, completely silver-chrome-plated version. A third approach is that the M6 "Panda" is the very early version of the silver chrome plated M6 cameras.
Be that as it may, almost everyone agrees that there was probably only around 1,000-2,000 units manufactured.
Apparently the Leica M6 "Panda" models were partly converted to a completely silver chromed version in the factory, so that it is questionable how many original "Panda" still exist today.
Total production: approx. 1.000 – 2.000 units only
Rarity: R7
Rarity forecast: R8
