Leica M5 Jubilee “50 Jahre”
The Leica M5 Jubilee “50 Jahre” is a special edition of the M5. The M5 was the first Leica rangefinder with through-the-lens metering and the last to be entirely hand-assembled in Wetzlar. This variant has an exclusive “50 Jahre” (50 Years) emblem on a black body, and it was sold with the original Leica box and papers. Not much information on the Jubilee edition survives. The record confirms the emblem and the anniversary black finish. No source states what the 50 years commemorate, how many were made, or what the Jubilee-specific serial range or production year was.
What is documented about the base M5 applies here. It's a 35mm rangefinder with an interchangeable Leica M mount, a mechanically timed cloth horizontal-run shutter from 1/2 to 1/1000 second, and a spotmeter reading through a circular 8.5mm CdS cell. The viewfinder has 0.72x magnification with brightline frames for 35, 50, 90, and 135mm, plus a double-match needle exposure display. The body is larger and more angular than earlier M bodies. It carries a folding rewind crank in the bottom plate and the largest shutter speed dial of the M series, coaxial with the release. The meter runs on a 625 mercury cell. Those cells are banned, so modern alternatives like the Weincell MRB625 are the practical route.
One dealer listing calls it “a rare piece of Leica history,” in Mint- condition, and describes the “50 Jahre” emblem as exclusive to the edition. The asking price at that listing was $4,299, discounted to $3,699. There is no record of an original retail price, and no period review of the Jubilee edition specifically appears to have survived.
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