There are many adjectives that one could give the Leica M-D, the camera maker's newest digital camera. Among these would be the words "retro," "unique," or even "purist." While these are indeed true, the camera is also, for all intents and purposes, "ridiculous."

Why is this so? Well, the M-D is probably the closest thing a photographer could come to using a decades-old camera. This is because Leica's newest camera forgoes numerous technological design aspects for a photography experience that is inherently unbridled and pure.

For one, the Leica M-D does not have an LCD screen at all. That means that photographers using the camera would have no way of checking if the photo they took met their specific standards. Only by connecting the camera to a computer would a photographer be able to view his or her shots.

Think of it as photography in Expert Mode.

The Leica M-D is a purist's camera through and through. The unit only shoots images in RAW format, so there's no JPEG option there. Just like classic cameras, the unit's ISO range is limited to only 200 to 6400 too.

Of course, with the absence of an LCD screen, the all-too-familiar menus of modern digital cameras are completely nonexistent. Rather, the photographer would simply need to adjust the camera's ISO, aperture and shutter speed through a series of manual dials.

In a lot of ways, the Leica M-D is the consumer version of the hyper-expensive, LCD-less $20,000 Leica M Edition 60, which was released back in 2014 to commemorate 60 years of the firm's M-Series cameras. As much as it is the consumer's version, however, the Leica M-D nonetheless demands a premium price of $6,000.

With the camera's features, or more prominently, its lack of features, the Leica M-D is not designed to take the photography world by storm. Rather, it is somewhat of a love letter to the purists of the photography world, who continue to revel in the allure of capturing the perfect moment in one perfect shot.

The sheer price of the camera alone is a statement that the Leica M-D is not for everyone. For those that that the device was created for, however, the M-D might very well be the perfect camera.

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