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Leica has largely eschewed physical controls in aiming for a minimalist, futuristic design. What buttons there are have mostly been recessed into the bodywork, where a built-in flash also hides

Y ou might have stared at a shiny Leica in a glass case at Harrods, or pressed yourself up against the window of Leica’s flagship Mayfair store. Its red-logo’d cameras are handcrafted objects of desire and, as a result, scarcely affordable. Think of them as the Maseratis of the camera world… as much luxury lifestyle gadgets as photographic tools.

The TL, fashioned from a single block of aluminium for a sleek, ultraminimalist exterior, is one of Leica’s less-expensive interchangeable lens offerings, at a ‘mere’ £1,450 (body only). The pitch is that here is photography reduced to the essentials, and physical controls are largely eschewed. Frustratingly, the TL doesn’t have an eye-level viewfinder for those who like to compose their shots with the camera held at head height – a clip-on Visoflex viewfinder will set you back an extra £360 –