Leicina Super (1969–1973)

The Leicina Super is Leitz's Super 8 movie camera from the turn of the 1970s, made in Germany. It sat below the interchangeable-lens Leicina Special and above the simpler entry-level bodies. The Super came with a fixed lens. The record shows it was also offered in a rare 1972 special version built at Ernst Leitz (Canada) Ltd. in Midland, Ontario, which added the double-exposure / lap-dissolve function borrowed from the later Leicina Super RT1.

Documentation on the base Super is thin. Most surviving material concerns its successor, the Leicina Super RT1 (1970-1977), which shared the Super's fundamental design. The RT1 was a fully electronic, automatic camera powered by five AA batteries housed in the removable forehead rest, and one hand could operate all the controls. Its fixed Leicina Vario 1.9/8-64mm zoom was described by one seller as among the sharpest lenses ever made for Super 8. The same seller called the camera strongly built and reliable. As with many ambitious Leitz movie cameras, though, the less elaborate and less expensive competition ultimately won the market. Classic Cameras AU noted the RT1's impressive function set for its era.

Known specifications for the RT1 variant:

Lens: Leicina Vario, F1.9, 8–64mm, fixed
Weight: 1440 g; dimensions approx. 70 × 100 × 290 mm
Batteries: five AA cells in the removable forehead rest
Tripod socket: 1/4″

Collectors still seek these out. The RT1 with the optional ST-1 interval timer appears on specialist dealer sites in the €845 range, and a digital video-assist accessory for the Leicina line sells for around €488. An instruction manual for the Leicina Super survives in circulation, and the RT1 shows up often in Super 8 test footage on film forums and video platforms.