M7 or MP? I'm interested in the opinions of users of both.

[Guest Seb V]

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This has been swimming around the forums ever since the MP came out. But I am interested in hearing the views of people who have actually owned or used both these fine cameras and ask you to come off the fence and say which one you prefer to use and why.

Slow week...

 

Seb.

[wilyum]

There is nothing wrong with automated exposure and electronic shutters if you enjoy the convenience and freedom, but I want one piece of equipment that is independent of batteries and all the complexities and failures of high tech gear. That is why I own the MP! Best wishes, Bill

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[leicapfile]

Not the first time the subject has come up I beleive, but the first time I've thrown in my two cents or so.

 

Don't have an MP but do have an M2, 3, 6, and 7. I think the M2, 3, come closer to the description of "...equipment that is independent of batteries and all the complexities and failures of high tech gear". The MP does use a battery do they not? And when that battery fails the MP is no more than an M2,3 with a hot synch shoe and slighly less construction quality.

 

While the M7 probably shares the same level of construction quality as the MP, it has two additional benefits not shared with the MP. The first is of course the electronic shutter w/AP. If you are a chrome shooter mainly, and have fast moving Grandkids, you'll really appreciate that. I certainly do, as "keepers" are a primary goal.

 

Secondly, although flash assist in lighting is used perhaps only 10% of the time at best, the TTL capabilities of the M7 also serve to reach that same keeper goal.

 

The issue of batteries has always been somewhat of a red herring type of issue to me. Anyone serious will always carry spare(s) for both cameras. In much the same way as they'll always carry spare rolls of film.

 

While the purists will bemoan the 3mm of extra height of the M7, I think it's worth it given the pluses they bring. After all, I can always turn off the AUTO mode, and use the M7 as it were an MP. The reverse isn't true. Engraved top plates as with the MP and MP3 are attractive (and I too wish Leica would allow me to purchase one seperately outside the ala carte program for my M7), I don't think they make my images any better.

 

Best,

 

Jerry

[Guest hagen]

This has been swimming around the forums ever since the MP came out. But I am interested in hearing the views of people who have actually owned or used both these fine cameras and ask you to come off the fence and say which one you prefer to use and why.

Slow week...

 

Seb.

 

I use both of them. M7 for color negatives and slides and MP for BW only. If I had to decide for one of them I would choose most probably the MP.

[Guest Seb V]

I use both of them. M7 for color negatives and slides and MP for BW only. If I had to decide for one of them I would choose most probably the MP.

 

Thats it Hagen - come down on one side! Now, anyone else?

[brunom]

Sebastian

 

Having owned most M cameras over the years I can definitely say that the MP is constructed at least as good as the M2/3 cameras. I have missed a few shots that I would have got with an M7, but as there were other factors involved I can't simple just blame my MP.

 

If I was buying now, I would have a serious look at the M7, but in reality an MP and an older Hexar may just do the trick [ £ ? ]

 

Head says M7, heart says MP, and having chosen [ bearing in mind that nothing is ever perfect ] I have no regrets.

 

Bruno

[sdai]

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The M7 has two mechanically controlled speed 1/60 and 1/125 even when batteries die.

 

I have two M7s and one MP (all 0.85 viewfinders) ... the MP is only serving as a lens mount for my Thambar.

[arminw]

Well, I have both M7 and MP... I do however love the MP more and use it for Black and white almost every day. M7 is fun too and a more allrounder. It's hard to say which one is best, that's why I have purchased both of them and now I am happy.

[robsteve]

Seb:

 

If you are shooting fast moving kids or street photography with slide film where proper exposure counts, the M7 will get some shots you would have otherwise missed while doing the Manual metering.

 

I was shooting in Paris with Steve Unsworth a few years ago and I missed a couple good shots because of manual metering. I remember one was a lady in a shop doorway smoking a cigarette, gazing off into space. In the two seconds it took to set the meter on my M6, she saw me and turned away. The next year when I was in Paris, I had a M7.

 

Here is the picture where she saw me and turned away. It was on slide film so exposure was critical.

 

[larry]

M7-- more versatile and quieter an MP. (But the MP is more of a classic.)

 

Larry

[earleygallery]

Well I don't even have an M but if I were buying new I'd be torn between them. I like AE and William Lamb has both but says the metering is more accurate on the M7 because of the stepless shutter speeds, although he much prefers the M5.

 

The MP would appeal to me for the same reasons I love my lllf, fully mechanical hand built perfection. OK it has the built in meter but they rarely fail and even if it did it doesn't affect the rest of the camera. 50 years from now it will still function perfectly which may - may - not be the case with the M7.

 

I also love my R3. I've had it from new and its been totally reliable. But if it should fail on me its unlikely that its going to be possible to fix it (if the problem is to do with the electronics).

 

Day to day shooting the M7 would be very convenient, but if I could only afford one it would be the MP. I think...........

[peter_n]

Have used both plus considerable extra fondling of an MP in my dealership. I was taken with the MP but for the life of me could not discriminate the fine extra "feel" that is attributed to the camera on internet forums. I am obviously a barbarian. Long story short I now use two M7s and love them (0.72 & 0.85 mag). It is just a very, very practical camera and I do use the AE and I am not ashamed of it.

[ddp]

I've had both - and I'll give a brief history of my M experience to show how I arrived at my current setup. Thrilling, I know...lol.

 

M6 classic, bought used....loved it. Decided a I needed a backup body for big shoots & whatnot, got an M7. Figured the auto mode might be nice. Never really loved the camera though. MP is introduced, I handled one and knew it was what I was looking for. Sold the old M6, got an MP in black paint. Felt perfect - between the handling and the film advance lever, it was what I was looking for. Sold the M7 for an M3 SS and 90 APO Asph last year. Don't miss it one bit - for me, that extra 3mm was an issue. Ordered a 0.85 MP ala carte this year, and ultimately - I would sell my original MP for an MP3.

 

I don't have a problem with the auto functions on the M7 - but I prefer the clean look of the MP. Don't care for the red dot or nomenclature on the front of the camera, and I like the size of the MP better. It also feels more solid. That is purely my opinion. I also don't need TTL with the M's, or an auto mode. Again, that's my personal shooting style and I can work around any shortcomings this type of setup may have. I figure if I could work with a Hassy 500 CM and Vivitar 283 - an MP with SF20 is cake.

 

In my digital work - I use all tools available to me on those cameras....it's just refreshing and head clearing for me to work with the M's in the fashion I have chosen.

[andym911]

I have the M6 Classic and the M7 , no experience with MP but functionality is comparable to M6.

After using both extensively for studio/travel and 'hobby' if I had to choose only one I would go M7.Auto mode just gives you that edge on speed when it counts, does it 'feel' as good as the M6, no, but I get more keepers with it.

Personally I would never buy an MP as for Euro 2,000 less you can get a 'new in box' M6 never used if you look around with basically the same function and feel.

Today you can also pick up an M7 as new for less than Euro 1,900 so that would be my choice if I did not already have one.

 

The stuff said about m6/m7 being battery dependant is about the same as saying they are fil dependant.If you shoot seriously you always have a spare battery and film with you.And if you do forget you still have manual speeds to use.

 

cheers

andy

[Ted W]

The MP, while beautiful, has no advantage for me once I had DAG install the MP advance lever on my M7 (I have an easier time catching it with my thumb and I prefer its aesthetics as well). The "right-way" shutter-speed wheel, as some would call it, I feel is a design flaw; the counter-intuitiveness of it may cost a shot here and there. The fact it can operate without batteries is an overstated virtue as well, as the M7 has two speeds that don't require batteries and it's easy enough to have fresh batteries anyway as you would fresh film. The M7 can work in full manual as the MP, but manual mode is silly to me unless you are using a separate light-meter. That would be true manual mode. But using the built-in meter and then adjusting the shutter speed yourself is just adding a step, one more thing that has to be done before you can shoot. Not to mention the greater accuracy that the electronic shutter can bring to an exposure (even if it is only a third or half a stop or whatever it is). I lost many shots fiddling with that thing on my M6 before I got wise.

 

No contest for me. M7.

[simonpg]

My M7 was my first Leica. I chose it over an MP because it seemed to me to be a better all-round choice, which I still feel is the case 2 years later. It is simply the added convenience of AE that did it for me. In particular shooting slide film I know I have ideal exposure control. In use I like the fact that I can spend more time on composition and simply select the desired aperture letting the M7 worry about the shutter. By the way it has performed perfectly the whole time.

 

The selection of an M7 or MP is a very personal choice based on functionality and the way you prefer to work; so, the best advise is to take each for a test drive like I did before you buy.

 

The only alteration I have made to my M7 is to replace the film advance lever with the MP style solid metal version, which I remain delighted with.

[Guest maddin]

Hi Seb.

 

Do you want to buy one of them? That is a very good idea. Yet I wouldn't know which one to sell to you. Basically they are the same - except when it comes to speed and practical use and what does define street photography (aka rangefinder-photography) better then "speed"? So the answer is clear: M7. By the way: I have no understanding why the M7 loses so much in value - it is all in the head.

 

Still, why does the MP sell at all? It has almost the same size/weight/material, manual is possible on both. So except for the AUTO setting there is no user difference.

 

it sells because of the myth. You actually start believing that the time you need to expose properly gives you a better image. That is basically nonsense as it is to dedicate the MP to B/W. The MP doesn't give you better pictures.

 

 

And why do i still have the MP? Because i love to rewind the film with this outrageously unpractical rewind knob and because it feels real cool to show off.

 

 

cheers

[mwilliamsphotography]

If forced to select one, it would be neither .... sort of ...

 

My choice would be the chrome MP3. All the eye candy and fondling attributes of the classic Leica Ms, and the shooting attributes I grew up with through a succession of meterless and metered Ms.

 

In my case, either MF film or 35mm digital is taking over for color, but available light B&W is another story altogether. My MP3 may never see a roll of color film, but it has gobbled up brick after brick of B&W already.

 

Were it not for the digital migration for color work, the one camera would be a M7 no ifs ands or buts. I shoot weddings with a M, and the M7 was the best thing that ever happened to me for that application.

[milsu]

When I decided to buy a Leica M, I was strongly hesitating between the MP and M7. I wanted a pure mechanical photo camera with mechanical lens, but was affraid of light metering speed. So, I decided to go for M7 with its auto exposure. But, at the last moment, I changed my mind, and purchased an MP. And thank God, what a relief, because I have made a perfect choice. What I wanted was pure mechanical camera, and I got one. It is what suits me myself the best.

 

With M7, I could have faster metering. But, with MP it is more fun, because I ought to think about light metering settings, sometimes in advance. At time, I am collecting more and more experience, because I don't just meter - I think about the light. It is a magical feeling when I first set shutter speed and apperture, and then check with lightmeter, which shows the perfect fully lightened red dot.

 

(Sorry for a little inconvenience, but I have to remember funny "Electric Blue" video clip I saw on television many years ago. Two housevifes were competing each other who will clean her kitchen better and faster. The one who used regular methods and stuff won. But the other, who was using her half-naked body with sexy lingerie on, enjoyed more.)

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[masjah]

(Sorry for a little inconvenience, but I have to remember funny "Electric Blue" video clip I saw on television many years ago. Two housevifes were competing each other who will clean her kitchen better and faster. The one who used regular methods and stuff won. But the other, who was using her half-naked body with sexy lingerie on, enjoyed more.)

 

Hmmmm....

 

I'm retired, and my wife is still working, so in fairness I do the housework. I've been wondering how to make it more enjoyable ......