The Leica M2 is a 35 mm rangefinder camera by Ernst Leitz GmbH of Wetzlar, Germany, introduced in 1957. Around 82,000 M2s were produced between 1957 and 1968.
The M2 was considered to be a more affordable, simplified version of the 1954 Leica M3. Notably, the frame counter of the M2 was composed of a disk plate beneath the film advance lever that had to be manually reset to zero after reloading. This system was close to that of the Leica III series, and unlike that of the M3, which is an independent frame counter, visible through a window in the top plate, that automatically resets to zero when the film take-up spool is removed.
The rangefinder system was also simplified from that of the M3 and this made it potentially more prone to rangefinder flare. The M2 has a rangefinder with a 0.72 magnification and framelines for 35, 50 and 90mm lenses instead of the 0.91 magnification and 50, 90 and 135mm framelines of the M3.
On the present-day used market the M2, originally intended to be more "affordable", sells at prices only slightly lower than the M3. Both cameras are made to a similar level of quality, and the M2's framelines have proved to be more versatile over time, with all subsequent Leica rangefinder models having 35mm framelines included.
This is the early models which have a film rewind push-button (Button M2) instead of the typical lever.
