The Witness is a Leica-copy camera manufactured by Peto Scott in the UK and marketed by Ilford around 1952. It’s an extremely rare camera, with reportedly fewer than 350 units produced. Among the countless Leica copies made around the world, the Witness stands out with an exceptionally refined design—and that bold Witness logo? It's so cool, you might want to put it on a T-shirt.
Originally, the Witness was to be equipped with a Daron 50mm f/2.9 as the standard lens. However, this was deemed too ordinary, and so the high-speed Dallmeyer Super-Six 2-inch f/1.9 was adopted instead. A superb 4-group, 6-element double Gauss design, the lens was highly acclaimed in its day—and remains so today—for its performance and distinctive, expressive rendering.
While the Witness uses a dedicated bayonet mount, it is also compatible with Leica screw mount lenses. A variety of L-mount lenses can be used on the camera, and conversely, the Super-Six 2-inch lens can be mounted on Leica bodies as well.
The Super-Six lens is rangefinder-coupled down to 3.1 feet, and by pressing a button on the focusing lever to bypass a stopper, it can focus as close as 1.8 feet in uncoupled mode. A truly rare and unique lens.
There is a slightly glossy patch from rubbing, about 1cm square, near the Witness logo on the top cover, and a minor waviness can be seen on the bottom plate.
Both the body and lens were fully overhauled in April 2025. The aperture ring becomes a bit stiff near its minimum setting, but otherwise, the operation of all parts is smooth. The viewfinder offers a clear view with a well-defined and high-contrast rangefinder patch.
The lens shows a few extremely light cleaning marks on the front and internal elements, but overall, the glass is in excellent condition for a Super-Six. The beautiful pale blue Dall coating remains intact across all surfaces.
When mounting the Super-Six lens on Leica or other bodies, one flathead screw at the lens mount must be removed (the lens will be shipped with this screw already removed). Please take care not to lose it, as it is a dedicated screw.
For regular shooting, be sure to slide the W–R lever near the winding knob firmly to the W position.
Test shots with the Super-Six yielded excellent results. Even wide open, the lens renders with fine detail. Rangefinder coupling is spot-on, accurately synchronized from minimum focus to infinity. A genuinely satisfying lens to use. We hope you’ll take a look at the sample photos on our Test Gallery.
Comes with the original front lens cap.
