Dot’s Nice: Tales of the Red Dot

And the many other Leitz and Leica logos that proceeded it

The ubiquitous Red Dot with a classic long-L Leica logo inscribed in white in its center is now synonymous with Leica—the camera, the company, and the brand. A masterpiece of simple, elegant graphic design, it’s emblazoned on virtually every new Leica camera, many other Leica products, and imprinted on all Leica press releases, ads, catalogs, instruction manuals, etc. The Red Dot has come to stand for an unsurpassed level of technical excellence and it’s certainly eye-catching. When affixed to a camera, it implicitly proclaims that its owner is (at very least) a connoisseur of fine machinery with the wherewithal to afford it. Perhaps that’s why some Leica fans, particularly photojournalists and “discreet” street shooters, find the Red Dot too ostentatious, and either tape it over or convert it to an understated black dot. Indeed, there’s now a cottage industry that makes and sells black Leica dots for this purpose and several videos showing detailed descriptions of how to do it yourself are now posted on the internet. Of course, you can also opt for a Leica Monochrom M10, M11, or Q2 all of which are dotless.

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The first Leicas to sport the Red Dot logo were the Leica M4-2 of 1977, and the Leica R3 SLR of 1976. The Leica M4-2 was based on the M4 form factor and feature set but employed a streamlined production process to reduce manufacturing costs. Specifically, the range/viewfinder was now a modular assembly rather than bench assembled from individual parts. This didn’t materially affect its functionality, but it meant there were fewer adjustments, a fact bemoaned by Leica purists. The M4-2 also added a hot shoe and motor drive compatibility as standard but deleted the mechanical self-timer.

Leica launched the Leica R3 in 1976 as the successor to the Wetzlar made Leicaflex SL2. It was developed in cooperation with Minolta and employed a robust Minolta XE chassis and a jointly designed Copal/Leitz CLS electronic shutter. Initially manufactured in Wetzlar, Germany, Leica R3 production was later moved to the new Leica plant in Portugal. The camera incorporated major modifications to the metering system, offering Leica's traditional selective area metering in addition to integrated (center-weighted) metering. It was also the first Leica SLR to offer automatic exposure, and was complemented (In 1978) by the Leica R3 MOT with an integrated, removable motor winder.

Perhaps ironically, while both the Red Dot Leica M4-2 and the Leica R3 represented compromises to the venerable Leica tradition of in-house bench assembly, both were commercially successful at a very difficult time for the company. Sales of the Leica M5 of 1975, then the latest rangefinder 35, had been dismal, and the previous Lecaflex series had made little or no profit, leaving the company in a precarious financial state. Bottom line: while it would be overstating the case to say that the Red Dot saved Leica, the first Leica cameras to bear that blazing escutcheon assuredly did just that.

Who designed the Red Dot? That information may be buried somewhere in the annals of Wetzlar, whence it originated, but all we can say at this point is that it was probably a German graphic designer. Whoever it was may have been inspired by the stunning Red Dot Leica logo appearing on the cover of the Leica General Catalogue for 1933 and published under the auspices of “Ernst Leitz Wetzlar and London.” It certainly bears a striking resemblance to the current Red Dot except that the red outlined name Leica superimposed in elegantly cursive white letters on the red dot is larger and slightly overhangs the circumference of the dot on both sides.

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The iconic Leica logo: was it inspired by an older Leitz logo?

It still seems amazing that the elegant “Long-L” Leica logo with the bottom of the upper case L curving under the remaining letters in “Leica” was never inscribed on the first production Leica cameras, the Leica I (Model A) of 1925 and the slightly later Compur shutter Leica I (Model B), but only appeared years later on the first rangefinder Leica, the Leica II (Model D) of 1932. What’s even more remarkable is that we can be certain that the design of the classic Leica logo had already been finalized by the mid ‘20s  because it is inscribed in all its curvilinear glory on the snazzy black finished metal lens cap for the Leica 50mm f/3.5 lenses affixed to most Leica A’s and B’s. But you have to give Leitz credit for getting it right the first time—the classic Leica script logo that first appeared on the Leica II (Model D) has endured until this day in virtually unaltered form and can be found on the latest Leica M11-P, although other current models such as the Leica SL3 “make do” with a Red Dot logo-:)

The origin of the Long-L script Leica logo, and its anonymous designer, also remain shrouded in mystery, but we can hazard a guess on what may have inspired it—the original long-L Leitz logo dating back to (at least) the early part of the 20th century and imprinted on various microscope catalogs of the early 1920s. Indeed, if you simply substitute the word “Leica” for “Leitz” and retain all the other graphic elements you’ve pretty much got the whole plot—the thin cursive rendition engraved on countless Leica cameras is simply a refinement of the “thick” version.

For some reason the Leica logo appearing in some ads and brochures of the ‘20s and ‘30s, especially those issued by E. Leitz, New York, is an uglier, attenuated and/or blockier version of the original masterful logo appearing on the cameras themselves. Perhaps their artistic licenses should have been suspended or revoked for creating these “interesting” but inelegant designs.

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The E. Leitz Wetzlar “condenser” logo: copying Zeiss?

Another fascinating and beautiful logo that appears on Leica cameras, accessories, and lenses is the so-called E. Leitz Wetzlar “condenser” logo, which resembles a schematic of two stacked glass elements of a dark field microscope condenser, the top section imprinted “E. LEITZ” and the bottom one bearing the name “WETZLAR,” all in upper-case letters. Shown here are a charming early example which almost looks handwritten, and a more refined version from the early ‘50s.

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The Leitz condenser logo is older than the Leica logo, dating back to 1912, and it may have been influenced by the even earlier Carl Zeiss, Jena logo, which is based in a vertical rendering of a schematic of the last (2-element) cemented doublet in the acclaimed Carl Zeiss Tessar lens of 1902. It bears the legend “CARL ZEISS” in the top element and “JENA” in the bottom one, and serves as the basis for the iconic Zeiss-Ikon logo of 1926. Both these Leitz and Zeiss logos are very handsome and compelling, both employ optical elements as design elements very effectively, and both are fitting and enduring symbols of the two great German optical companies they stand for.

Profuse thanks to James Lager for providing  all the illustrations used in this article.