Also contributing to durability, the top and bottom plates are constructed from brass and the chassis is built from magnesium alloy to realize a robust physical construction for long-lasting use.

The body design also incorporates a dedicated ISO dial for quick adjustment, even when the camera is turned off, and the rear 3.0' 1.04m-dot touchscreen LCD features a Gorilla Glass cover to guard against scratching and light impacts. Sharing design traits with other M10-series cameras, the M10 Monochrom features a slim body profile reminiscent of M film cameras, and a larger 0.73x-magnification optical viewfinder allows for greater composition and focusing accuracy. The sensor's design also sees the omission of an optical low-pass filter, which helps to produce sharper, higher resolution imagery. Versus a standard CMOS sensor, this specialized monochrome sensor sees the removal of the color filter array to enable recording of just luminance values in order to achieve greater visual depth and clarity, along with improved sensitivity to ISO 100,000 and reduced noise levels to suit working in difficult lighting. This specialized digital rangefinder camera has been configured with a unique 40MP full-frame monochrome CMOS sensor, which is used for the sole purpose of recording vivid and rich black and white still photographs.

This camera is part of a limited production run of 650 units. The 150th anniversary of Ernst Leitz taking over Leica and branding it with the Leitz name, the M10 Monochrom 'Leitz Wetzlar' is a limited-edition version of the camera featuring a specialized engraving on the top plate of the camera.

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