James Bond chooses Leica to photograph the Olympics

Have you ever wondered what an international spy agent uses in their "off time" to capture images? Well now  we know, thanks to recent images from watch giant Omega on the company's Threads feed

Daniel Craig was spotted at the Olympic Games observing the equestrian discipline of showjumping, sporting a camera to capture some candid snaps. But of course, being the massive Hollywood actor that he is, having played one of the most recognizable characters ever to appear on the silver screen, well – James Bond wasn't going to be using a mere disposable camera, was he!

In fact, Craig was sporting a Lecia with a wide-angle lens, and this sent the social media platform Threads into meltdown.

Post by @omega View on Threads

After many assumptions by hawk-eyed users on the  platform, it has been decided what model and lens the superstar was using from the German camera manufacturer – and the results might surprise you.

can tell you that James Bond uses a Leica M10-R with a cool Leica 24mm Elmarit-M f/2.8 – without a lens hood, might I add!

While some were surprised he wasn't using the latest flagship, the Leica M11 , I admire Craig's choice, as I have often said that the Leica M10-R is the next Leica classic – and was in fact the very first Leica I ever used, and got me personally into the Leica ecosystem.

The M10-R was the first try from Leica to incorporate a large-megapixel sensor into this compact M-system camera body. With 40MP  it towered over its predecessor, the 24MP Leica M10 , and produced amazing colors. It's certainly on my shopping list to pick up a nice one when the eBay prices allow.

It also has me thinking that this will be Craig's personal camera. You can see by the various images online that this M10-R has many scrapes and fingerprints, which shows it's a used object – and I love to see these cameras being used!

The 24mm is a bit of an oddball, given that the M10-R's widest frame line shown in the viewfinder is 28mm. Anything wider and you usually sport an external viewfinder attached to the hot shoe, but maybe Craig just knows where to shoot to get that look he is after.

Either way, I would love to see the results he got from shooting that Leica 24mm Elmarit-M, which is one of the best Leica-M lenses around for wide-angle shooting.

I also think it's great to see celebrities enjoying photography. Obviously some of this is staged, as these shots where used by Omega to tease an upcoming release of a new Omega Seamaster (possibly a "no date" model), but still – anyone can enjoy photography and its great to see Daniel Craig out there taking pictures.

You might be interested in the best Leica cameras and, if you don't have the same budget as Bond, maybe the best Leica alternatives !