Leica M12 expected to get brand-new full-frame sensor from Germany instead of Sony sensor from Japan

The Leica M series has always been developed and manufactured in Germany, with most components sourced from European suppliers. This was also true of the full-frame sensor up to the Leica M10, which was developed by AMS Osram in Graz, Austria, and manufactured in France. The current Leica M11, however, uses a 60 MP sensor from Sony, which is almost identical to the sensor in the significantly less expensive Sony A7R IV, albeit with adapted microlenses in order to optimize the image quality of Leica M lenses.

Dr. Andreas Kaufmann, owner and chairman of the supervisory board of Leica Camera AG, recently commented on the Leica Enthusiast Podcast that Leica is once again currently developing its own in-house sensor. Work on this sensor began around the time of the Leica M11's launch in early 2022, about four years ago, and the entire development process is expected to take approximately five years. Since starting work on this sensor, Leica has reportedly made significant progress, but Kaufmann declined to elaborate further on the topic.

A proprietary sensor would allow Leica to distinguish the Leica M series from the competition and justify its steep price tag. Furthermore, Leica may optimize the sensor to the specific requirements of the Leica M series, because unlike most cameras on the market, the Leica M does not support autofocus or video recording and so does not require PDAF pixels or a sensor with particularly fast readout. Instead, image quality is the top priority on the M system.