it is indeed, though carrie, my ex has one that i have played with. they really are that intermediate step away from a rangefinder but towards an slr. this is one of the earlier cameras where you are looking through the lens itself, but the shutter slap is way less than it has become due to the lack of speed available at the time still. you will also notice that the bottom bracket for film loading is really a leica-esque characteristic, though others used it too. somewhere in the 70s that kind of disappeared, and as anyone who has ever loaded with that bottom bracket has ever noticed- its a royal pain.
so my usage history is anecdotal, though i love old cameras. i really want to try some of the old school medium format stuff still, but it's expensive and right now I have some more practical photo needs first.
damon- there is an alexandria photo shoot that matt and i are going on- you are more than welcome to join