At first glance, a Leica Formula 1 collaboration sounds a little out of sorts, doesn’t it? The legendary legacy camera maker isn’t exactly synonymous with sport photography. Look at the professional photo pit at an F1 race and you’ll see plenty of Canon and Nikon shooters carrying foot-long lenses. Mind you, look back to the crowd — and even some of the racers — and you’ll start to realize that Leica has been in the periphery of F1 for ages. Drivers including Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris, and Daniel Ricciardo have been spotted bringing their own Leicas to races.
The Leica Q3 43 Formula 1® Edition, to use its formal nomenclature, brings some interesting changes to Leica’s build practices, in particular a first use of carbon fibre. It’s not a material that we’d first think of when talking cameras; there’s something satisfying about a heavy steel frame in hand as you bring your eye to a viewfinder, but Leica seems to have struck the right balance here.
Where you see visible carbon fibre on the exterior of this Q3, that is indeed authentic material and not a veneer. While not traditionally used in Leica cameras at all, its low weight with extreme rigidity make it a motorsport staple. Thankfully some restraint was shown in this material adaptation and we’re not looking at a full carbon framed camera — frankly that would feel a bit forced. The carbon fibre parts for the Leica Q3 43 Formula 1® Edition have of course been manufactured and tested exclusively in Germany, as Leica is not one to leave things to chance.
From the handgrip to the thumb rest and soft-release button, carbon fiber is positioned at the key points where the camera is held and operated. Through this, the idea of creating a connection to motorsport is therefore not just visual, but also tactile. The carbon fiber is complemented by a black Microvelour covering whose texture is modelled on racing steering wheels. That’s also where the idea for the red accents came from: the control elements on the steering wheel are color-coded to help the driver find them quickly. The soft-release button and one of the two function buttons on the thumb rest feature the same color scheme. The set is completed by a special carrying strap featuring F1 branding, and custom-designed packaging with red inlay.
The Leica Q3 43 Formula 1® Edition was unveiled at Leica’s Los Angeles store & gallery on October 20th alongside The Art of Speed, an exhibition of 26 photographs by Italian F1 and motorsport photographer Callo Albanese. It is now available at all Leica stores, though we expect these — like any special edition Leica — to be hard to come by.
