“Distinguished by an exquisite design and premium quality materials in order to echo the ethos of the Leica brand.”

— Leica Fotografie International Magazine

SUB13 is the vision of artist Matt Draper. A personal project spanning nine years, driven by Draper’s desire to fuse the Leica rangefinder with his underwater practice, forcing the design of his own fully functional underwater housing. As Draper’s vision gained momentum, it evolved into SUB13, an industrial design team founded alongside engineer Matt Hipsley, extending beyond function to creatives and collectors alike.

  • SUB13 is derived from 'Subversive,' reflecting our approach, and 'Submarine,' honouring DOER Marine, founded by Dr Sylvia Earle as Deep Ocean Exploration and Research. Their ongoing contributions continue to play an important role through independent pressure testing, to complete failure, of all prototypes.

    With an unwavering pursuit of perfection, Draper and Hipsley spare no detail, personally investing their time. Our small team, including Matt, Matt, Toby, and Kate, manages all design, engineering, machining, and assembly.

    Production Runs include underwater housing designs for Leica M and Leica Q cameras and have supported distinguished artists such as Leica Oskar Barnack Award winner Narelle Autio, while remaining central to Matt Draper’s own practice.

    SUB13 continues to innovate through new projects, shaped by art, science, and the ocean, driving the ongoing evolution of our industrial design team.

FEATURED BUILD

New York, Defined

Built exclusively for Leica Store and Gallery New York, this SUB13 Leica M11 housing features a custom logo designed specifically for the gallery. Each one of one build is tied to a city and an animal. For New York, we kept returning to the same truth. Nothing feels more New York than New York itself.

The final design centres on NYC, refined and elevated through a subtle detail. The letter C is formed through a great white shark jaw, laser engraved with precision and paint filled entirely by hand, a finish that holds up at macro level.

The SUB13 New York build follows an earlier one of one for Leica Store and Gallery Bellevue, featuring an orca, Washington State’s official marine mammal. Together, the two designs establish a continuing thread, grounded in place and symbolism.

Presented during Matt Draper’s exhibition, Within One Breath, the New York City build remains on display at Leica Store and Gallery New York.

RESULTS ACHIEVED

'Marauder'

1/1000 sec f/6.8 ISO 640
Leica M11 x Summilux M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH

Neptune Islands, South Australia, are defining testing grounds for SUB13. We return each year, spending significant time working in conditions that demand trust in equipment, process, and muscle memory. That repetition, across seasons and encounters, allows our prototypes to be refined not in theory, but in use.

'Marauder' could only be made through the ergonomics of the M housing itself, allowing continuous control of focus, shutter speed, and aperture while maintaining full engagement with the subject. Nothing requires the eye to leave the rangefinder. Every critical control remains exactly where the hands expect it to be.