The Leica I transformed photography when it made its debut back in 1925, establishing the 35mm format as the new industry standard. The compact format swiftly gained traction with retailers and photographers commonly referring to it simply as “Leica film”, even though the 35mm film packs used with the Leica I originated from manufacturers like Kodak, Agfa, or Perutz. To celebrate the Leica I’s centenary and pay homage to 35 mm photography, Leica Camera AG is unveiling its first true Leica 35mm film: MONOPAN 50 black-and-white film, offering 36 exposures.

Honoring the origins of 35mm photography and its distinctive aesthetic, Leica is introducing its high-resolution MONOPAN 50 film, featuring an extended spectral range. The name MONOPAN 50 is derived from its components: “mono”, “pan”, and the number “50”. “Mono” refers to Leica’s renowned Monochrom series, a line of digital black-and-white cameras first introduced in 2012. “Pan” denotes the film’s outstanding panchromatic properties, while the number “50” represents its ISO rating.

Leica MONOPAN 50 features an ultra-fine grain, delivering an impressive resolution of up to 280 line pairs per millimeter. With superpanchromatic sensitivity of up to 780 nm, it ensures remarkable sharpness and an exceptional tonal range. The film encapsulates Oskar Barnack’s vision of “small negative – big picture”, the very principle that gave rise to the original Leica. With its refined specifications, the black-and-white film is perfectly suited to Leica lenses, showcasing their remarkable optical performance, particularly in high-end large-format prints and detailed scans. Back in Barnack’s day, most films had low sensitivity. Leica has embraced this historical context in its choice of ISO 50/18°. With high-performance Leica lenses like the Noctilux-M, Summilux-M and Summicron-M, the film’s low sensitivity enables wide-aperture shooting, rendering the distinctive Leica bokeh – even in bright lighting conditions. Thanks to its enhanced spectral sensitivity, the new Leica black-and-white film is also ideal for infrared photography, demonstrating exceptional responsiveness to filtration. As such, MONOPAN 50 pairs seamlessly with Leica color filters. This enhances photographs with striking contrast and dramatic aesthetics, granting photographers greater creative freedom in their compositions.

Produced in Germany, MONOPAN 50 is particularly perfect for landscape, architectural, cityscape, and travel photography. The film is compatible with all black-and-white developers. It guarantees complete control over black-and-white photography, ensuring the highest degree of detail. Its vintage-style packaging evokes the pioneering era of 35mm photography, while its outstanding specifications encourage photographers to carry forward this legacy by creating impressive images.

100 Years of Leica: Witness to a Century

In 2025, Leica Camera AG is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Leica I, which was first presented to the public at the Leipzig Spring Fair in 1925. As the first 35mm still camera to be mass-produced, it exceeded all expectations. Because with its compact and handy format, it opened up a whole new range of new photographic applications. All around the globe, under the motto “100 Years of Leica: Witness to a Century”, Leica Camera AG will be celebrating this camera which revolutionized the world of photography. Cultural projects and extraordinary special-edition products will be launched throughout the year at international events organized by the Leica national subsidiaries in the major cities of Dubai, Milan, New York, Shanghai, and Tokyo. The anniversary week, taking place in Wetzlar, the company’s headquarters, in June, marks the high point of the celebrations. On top of that, visitors can look forward to top-class exhibitions in the worldwide network of Leica Galleries with works by outstanding photographers.

About Leica Camera

Leica Camera AG is an international, premium manufacturer of cameras, lenses, and sports optics products with a company history stretching back over 150 years. As part of its growth strategy, the company has expanded its portfolio to include mobile imaging (smartphones) and the manufacture of high-quality lenses for glasses and watches, and is also represented in the home theater segment with its own projectors.

Leica Camera AG, with its headquarters in Wetzlar, Germany, and a second production site in Vila Nova de Famalicão, Portugal, has a worldwide network of its own distribution companies with over 120 Leica Stores. The company has 2,400 employees on its books and posted revenues of EUR 554 million in the 2023/24 fiscal year.

The Leica brand stands for excellence in quality, German craftsmanship, and industrial design, combined with innovative technologies. An integral aspect of the brand culture is the promotion of the culture of photography, with around 30 Leica Galleries worldwide, the Leica Akademie, and international awards such as the Leica Hall of Fame Award and the Leica Oskar Barnack Award (LOBA).

Leica Camera India (FCE Lifestyles Pvt Ltd)

FCE Lifestyles Pvt Ltd is the official partner with Leica Camera for its operations in India, with a registered office at Connaught Place, New Delhi. Leica Camera Asia Pacific appointed FCE as the exclusive Leica authorized distributor for India and operates the only Leica Stores in India, located in Mumbai and New Delhi.