Development of the R8 began in 1990 and was introduced at the 1996 photokina trade show. It can be fitted with the Digital Modul R (DMR) digital back (discontinued in 2007) and used as a digital camera making them the only 35 mm SLRs to take a user-installable digital back. The R8 was the first R-series camera to have no association with Minolta, being solely a Leica design and showing a clear stylistic change compared to prior bodies. This is a new old stock item.